Inhibitory effects of miRNA-133a on the development and metastasis of ovarian cancer cells by targeted regulation of TGF-β1/CTGF signaling pathways

Objective: The present study aimed to explore the inhibitory effects of microRNA-133a on the development and metastasis of ovarian cancer, investigating its mechanisms. Methods: Surgical specimens of 48 ovarian cancer patients were gathered. Ovarian cancer SKOV-3 cells were divided into the experimental group (EG), transfected with microRNA-133a mimic, and the control group (CG), transfected with nonsense microRNA. Expression levels of microRNA-133a were measured using RT-PCR. Moreover, CCK8, Transwell, and flow cytometry were adopted to measure changes in cell proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis. Western blotting was adopted to measure expression levels of TGF-β1 related protein. Results: Relative expression levels of microRNA-133a of the ovarian cancer tissues were lower than those of adjacent tissues (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, overexpression of microRNA133a remarkably inhibited cell proliferation and invasion in the experimental group (P<0.05). Expression of TGF-β1 of SKOV-3 tissues was remarkably higher than that of adjacent tissues (P<0.05), being negatively correlated with expression of microRNA-133a (r=-0.684, P<0.05). Compared with the EG, invasion and migration of SKOV-3 cells were decreased. Expression levels of mRNA and proteins of TGF-β1 and CTGF were decreased in the EG (P<0.05). Compared with microRNA-133a+CG, invasion and migration of cells in the microRNA-133a mimic+TGF-β1 group were significantly raised (P<0.05). Conclusion: Low expression of microRNA-133a in SKOV-3 tissues may inhibit the development and metastasis of ovarian cancer via regulating the activation of TGF-β1 signaling pathways.