miRNA-101 inhibits ovarian cancer cells proliferation and invasion by down-regulating expression of SOCS-2

Objective: To investigate the expression of miRNA-101 in normal and malignant ovarian tissues and cells as well as its impact on the proliferation and invasion of human ovarian cancer H08910 and SKOV3 cell lines. Methods: Real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was employed to detect the miR-101 and SOCS-2 expression in 20 separate ovarian cancer tissues and para-carcinoma tissues, human ovarian cancer cells (H08910 and SKOV3) and normal human ovarian epithelial cells (HUM-CELL-0088). After H08910 and SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells were respectively transfected with miR-NC (H08910/NC and SKOV3/NC) and miR-101 (H08910/miR-101 and SKOV3/miR-101), Western Blot was employed to detect the SOCS-2 expression in transfected cells. CCK-8 and clone formation and Transwell assays were employed to determine the proliferation and invasion ability of wild type and transfected ovarian cancer cells. Results: The expression of miR-101 in ovarian cancer tissues and cells was significantly lower than that in para-carcinoma tissues (t = 19.12, P = 0.002) and normal human ovarian epithelial cells (HUM-CELL-0088) (F = 14.37, P = 0.000), respectively. In contrast, the SOCS-2 expression in ovarian cancer tissues and cells was significantly higher than that in para-carcinoma tissues (t = 25.03, P = 0.000) and HUM-CELL-0088 cells (F = 14.9, P = 0.000) by Western Blotting analysis, respectively. Compared with wild type and empty vector transfected cells, the expression of SOCS-2 was significantly decreased in miR-101 transfected H08910 (t = 10.9, P = 0.001) and SKOV3 cells (t = 21.03, P = 0.000). The results of CCK-8, clone formation and Transwell assays revealed that the proliferation and invasion ability of ovarian cancer cells was markedly inhibited by the transfection of miR-101. Conclusion: MiR-101 was validated to be reduced and SOCS-2 expression increased in ovarian cancer tissues and cells. The over expression of miR-101 can remarkably reduce the in vitro proliferation and invasion ability of ovarian cancer cells through the down-regulation of SOCS-2.