Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are acknowledged as essential regulators in human cancer types, including glioblastoma (GBM). However, the functions of microRNA‑3666 (miR‑3666) in GBM remain unclear. In the present study, it was identified that the expression of miR‑3666 was significantly downregulated in GBM tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues by reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, miR‑3666 was downregulated in GBM cell lines. Furthermore, it was observed that the miR‑3666 expression level in patients with GBM was associated with prognosis. With functional experiments, it was identified that overexpression of miR‑3666 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of GBM cells in vitro by Cell Counting kit‑8 and Transwell assays. Ectopic expression of miR‑3666 significantly arrested GBM cells in the G0 phase by fluorescence activated cell sorting. In terms of the underlying mechanism, it was identified that lysine‑specific demethylase 2A (KDM2A) is a direct target of miR‑3666 in GBM cells. Overexpression of miR‑3666 significantly decreased the expression of KDM2A in GBM cells. Furthermore, it was observed that knockdown of KDM2A significantly suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of GBM cells. Collectively, the present results demonstrated that the miR‑3666/KDM2A axis serves an important role in the progression of GBM, which provides novel insight into the development of therapeutic strategies for GBM treatment.