Abstract
Prostate carcinoma is a global health problem and is estimated to be diagnosed in 1.1 million men/year, making this malignancy the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in males worldwide. micro RNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. miRNAs contribute to cancer development and progression, and are expressed differently in normal tissues and cancers. In the present study, the biological function of miR-106a in the human prostate carcinoma and the associated regulatory mechanisms were investigated. miR-106a was significantly upregulated in human prostate cancer tissues when compared with normal tissues (P<0.05), and the overexpression of miR-106a was identified to promote PC-3 cell growth. Additionally, miRNA-106a inhibition significantly suppressed PC-3 cell growth. Furthermore, it was observed that the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) expression level was negatively associated with miR-106a expression level, and miRNA-106a directly targeted PTEN in the PC-3 cells. PTEN overexpression has a similar effect on PC-3 cell growth as loss of miR-106a. Taken together, the results of the present study indicate that upregulated miR-106a regulates PC-3 cell proliferation through PTEN. These results suggest that appropriate manipulation of miR-106a may provide a novel strategy in the future treatment of human prostate cancer.