Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function as important post-transcriptional regulators involved in a wide range of biological behaviors. MicroRNA-182 (miR-182) has been shown to play a critical role in tumor pathogenesis. The present study aimed to investigate the role of miR-182 in malignant melanoma.
Methods: MTT assay was performed to measure the viabilities of cancer cells. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression, respectively. Moreover, the miRNA target genes were validated with luciferase activity assay.
Results: In the current study, we found that the expression of miR-182 was significantly up-regulated in malignant melanoma tissues compared to the adjacent non-cancer tissues. MMT assay showed that down-regulation of miR-182 suppressed the proliferation of malignant melanoma cell line. By contrast, over-expression of miR-182 promoted the growth of malignant melanoma cells. In addition, the reversion-inducing cysteinerich protein with Kazal motifs (RECK) was down-expressed in human malignant melanoma tissues. Moreover, poor expression of miR-182 led to an increase in RECK expression, whereas over-expression of miR-182 reduced RECK levels in malignant melanoma cells. The luciferase reporter assay showed that RECK was a direct target of miR-182.
Conclusions: These findings demonstrated that miR-182 inhibited malignant melanoma cell proliferation via RECK, providing a novel target for the molecular treatment of malignant melanoma.