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miR-144-3p Targets GABRB2 to Suppress Thyroid Cancer Progression In Vitro

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Abstract

Thyroid cancer, as one of the most common cancers in many countries, has attracted increasing attention, but its pathogenesis is still unclear. This research explored the effects of miR-144-3p and GABRB2 on thyroid cancer cells and the underlying mechanism. Gene expression data was obtained from the GEO database to analyze differential expression of mRNAs and miRNAs in patients with thyroid cancer. CCK-8, transwell, scratch, and flow cytometry assays were performed to detect cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and apoptosis, respectively. Dual-luciferase reporters were used to detect the binding of miR-144-3p to GABRB2. GABRB2 was highly expressed and miR-144-3p was underexpressed in thyroid cancer. In thyroid cancer cells, inhibiting GABRB2 or upregulating miR-144-3p reduced proliferation, invasion, and migration and increased apoptotic rates; GABRB2 overexpression or miR-144-3p inhibition brought about the opposite results. miR-144-3p targeted GABRB2 and negatively regulated its expression. PI3K/AKT activation was reduced in thyroid cancer cells overexpressing miR-144-3p. GABRB2 overexpression partially mitigated the tumor-suppressive effect of miR-144-3p overexpression. In conclusion, miR-144-3p targets GABRB2 to inhibit PI3K/AKT activation, thereby inhibiting the progression of thyroid cancer in vitro.

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Data Availability

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks for all the contributors.

Funding

This research was funded by the grant from Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 823MS152).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Hainan Cancer Hospital, Haikou, Hainan, 570000, P. R. China

    Cheng Xiu, Xiaocong Deng, Da Deng, Tao Zhou, Chuiguang Jiang, Di Wu & Yong Qian

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  1. Cheng Xiu
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  2. Xiaocong Deng
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  3. Da Deng
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  4. Tao Zhou
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Contributions

QY and XC conceived the ideas; designed the experiments. XC; DXC; DD; ZT; JCG and WD performed the experiments. XC; DXC; DD; ZT and JCG analyzed the data. QY provided critical materials. ZT; JCG and WD wrote the manuscript. QY supervised the study. All the authors have read and approved the final version for publication.

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Correspondence to Yong Qian.

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Xiu, C., Deng, X., Deng, D. et al. miR-144-3p Targets GABRB2 to Suppress Thyroid Cancer Progression In Vitro. Cell Biochem Biophys 82, 3585–3595 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-024-01446-y

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