MicroRNA-126 affects ovarian cancer cell differentiation and invasion by modulating expression of vascular endothelial growth factor

Primary ovarian cancer is the main cause of gynecological cancer-associated mortality. However, the mechanism behind the spread of ovarian cancer requires elucidation. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of microRNA-126 (miR-126) on differentiation and invasion, and its mechanism in primary ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells transfected with LV3-has-miR-126 mimics and LV3-has-miR-126 inhibitor were produced; it was revealedthatLV-miR-126 mimics could induce cell cycle arrest at G(1) phase, suppress cell invasion through Matrigel-coated membranes and downregulate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Furthermore, LV-has-miR-126 inhibitor-transfected cells could increase the number of cells in S phase, induce cell invasion and upregulate the expression of VEGF. The present study, to the best of our knowledge, is the first to report that miR-126 may serve tumor suppressor roles by inducing G(1) cell cycle arrest and suppressing invasion in ovarian cancer cells, at least in part by targeting VEGF expression.