Abstract
Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been associated with carcinogenesis in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In the present study, we investigated the expression and function of miR-99b-3p in human OSCC. We found that the expression levels of miR-99b-3p decreased in 21 clinical OSCC samples (84%). Furthermore, ectopic expression of miR-99b-3p inhibited OSCC cell proliferation by downregulating glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β), an miR-99b-3p' target gene, at the mRNA and protein levels, both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the silencing of GSK3β recapitulated the cellular and molecular effects in a similar manner to the overexpression of miR-99b-3p, which included inhibition of OSCC cell proliferation and suppression of p65 (RelA) and G1 regulators (cyclin D1, CDK4 and CDK6) in vitro. Our data suggest that miR-99b-3p functions as a tumor suppressor in OSCC via GSK3β downregulation.