Abstract
Ovarian carcinoma is the most lethal of the gynecologic malignancies worldwide. Increasing evidence suggests dysfunction of microRNAs (miRNAs) plays an important role in human cancers. The function of miR-222 was detected in ovarian carcinoma to verify the regulation of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) by miR-222. miR-222 expression in ovarian carcinoma tissues and cell lines were examined using RT-qPCR. Transwell assay was used to detect miR-222 effects on ovarian carcinoma cell migration and invasion. Western blot analysis and luciferase assays were performed to validate PTEN as miR-222 targets. miR-222 expression was upregulated in ovarian carcinoma tissues and three cell lines (A2780, SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3). Ectopic overexpression of miR-222 in ovarian carcinoma cells was sufficient to promote invasion and migration. PTEN acted as a direct target of miR-222. Overexpression of PTEN inhibited human ovarian carcinoma cell migration and invasion. In summary, our findings suggest that miR-222 plays an important role in promoting ovarian carcinoma cell invasion and migration and miR-222/PTEN may be a novel therapeutic target of miRNA-mediated promotion of cell invasion and migration in ovarian carcinoma.