Regulation of prostate cancer cells invasiveness via microRNA-221 by the expression level of target gene suppressor of cytokine signaling 1

Objective To investigate microRNA (miRNA, miR)-221 expression in prostate cancer cells and its influence on prostate cancer cell invasiveness. Methods miR-221 expression levels in prostate cancer cell lines were measured by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The miR-221 overexpression and silencing cell lines were constructed by cell transfection. Effects of the depletion on cell invasiveness were assessed in vitro with Transwell. Results RT-qPCR showed miR-221 was down-regulated in PC3, LNCaP and DU145 cells than in PrEC (F=235.852, P=0.000), in which pairwise comparison also had significant differences. Cell invasiveness assay showed that migration of LNCaP (P=0.000) and DU145 (P=0.000) cells overexpressing miR-221 was significantly slower than in the control group. Conclusion The negative regulation of suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) by miR-221 can inhibit the invasiveness of prostate cancer cells. Key words: Prostate cancer; MicroRNA-221; Invasiveness; Suppressor of cytokine signaling 1