MiR-124-5p inhibits the growth of high-grade gliomas through posttranscriptional regulation of LAMB1.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive form of human brain tumor. It was previously shown that high levels of laminin-8 expression were a predictor of tumor recurrence and patient survival. It is thus important to elucidate the mechanism by which laminin-8 expression is regulated and determine how this contributes to glioma progression. This study investigated the mechanism of regulation of LAMB1, which encodes the β1 chain of laminin-8, in glioma cells lines and in a mouse model of GBM. The expression levels of LAMB1 and miR-124-5p were examined in glioma cell lines (U87 and U251) and GBM tissue samples by quantitative PCR and Western blotting. The potential regulation of LAMB1 by miR-124-5p was investigated by assessing the effects of restored miR-124-5p expression on cell proliferation, colony formation, and tumor growth and angiogenesis. The effects of inhibiting LAMB1 on tumor growth and angiogenesis were also assessed. The upregulation of LAMB1 expression was highly correlated with the downregulation of miR-124-5p. LAMB1 protein expression was suppressed by miR-124-5p. The restoration of miR-124-5p expression suppressed glioma growth by inhibiting angiogenesis, effects that were also observed upon LAMB1 knockdown. The findings indicate that miR-124-5p functions as a tumor suppressor and could serve as a molecular marker for glioma diagnosis and as a potential therapeutic target in GBM treatment.