Effect of Hsa-miRNA-203a-3p on proliferation of skin squamous cell carcinoma-1 human skin squamous cell cancer cells by targeting adenomatous polyposis coli using magnetic nanoparticles

To investigate the effect of hsa-miR-203a-3p overexpression on the proliferation of human skin squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) cells and its possible mechanism. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of miR-203a-3p in cell lines and clinical human CSCC samples. A luciferase reporter system was used to verify the targeted regulatory relationship of miR-203a-3p to APC, and a miR-203a-3p lentivirus overexpression vector was constructed and used to transfect CSCC SCL-1 cells. RT-PCR was used to detect changes in miR-203a-3p and APC gene expression and Western blot was used to detect differences in APC and β-catenin protein expression. MTT and clonogenic assays were used to evaluate cell growth and detect clone formation, respectively. MiR-203a-3p showed decreased expression in SCL-1 cells and CSCC samples. Results of luciferase reporter assay showed that the ratio of Renilla luciferase to Firefly luciferase was significantly decreased in SCL-1 cells of the APC 3′-UTR+miR-203a-3p (wild-type) group compared with those of the APC 3′-UTR+negative control group. After lentiviral infection of SCL-1 cells, the abundance of miR-203a-3p and phosphorylated β-catenin protein was significantly increased, whereas the abundance of APC and β-catenin protein was significantly reduced. Cell phenotyping analysis showed that miR-203a-3p decreased cell proliferation. MiR-203a-3p inhibits the proliferation of SCL-1 cells through targeted regulation of APC and may play a role as a tumor suppressor gene through the Wnt pathway. Nanotechnology has potential future research applications in gene vector transfection technology.