miR-199b-3p Suppresses Prostate Cancer Cells Malignant Proliferation by Targeting PLCε

The purpose of this study was to determine the expression of miR-199b-3p in PCa (prostate cancer) and its effect on PCa cells proliferation. The expression of miR-199b-3p in PCa tissues, BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) tissues, PCa cells and RWPE-1 were detected by RT-qPCR (real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction). In addition, we examined the relationship between miR-199b-3p and the clinicopathological features of PCa in PCa tissues. Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression of PLCε (phospholipiase C epsilon). CCK-8 assay and colony-forming assay were applied to assess the proliferation in vitro. Edu assay was used to detect cell uptake of Edu. Luciferase reporter assay was used to confirm the binding of miR-199b-3p and PLCε. The results showed that the expression level of miR-199b-3p in PCa tissues was significantly lower than that in BPH tissues, and correlated with the histological stage in various clinicopathological characteristics. Upregulation of miR-199b-3p can significantly inhibit the proliferation of PCa cells and the uptake capacity of Edu. PLCε was identified as the downstream target gene of miR-199b-3p. In addition, the expression of PLCε was negatively correlated with that of miR-199b-3p. Furthermore, rescue experiments showed that the overregulation of PLCε could rescue inhibitory effect of miR-199b-3p on cell proliferation. In a word, miR-199b-3p negatively regulates PLCε by targeting its 3ʹ-UTR (3ʹ-untranslated region), then inhibiting the malignant proliferation of PCa cells.