correlation of mir-221 expression with pten/akt signal pathway and emt-related gene expression in glioma tissue

Objective: To study the correlation of miR-221 expression level with PTEN/Akt signal pathway and EMT-related gene expression in glioma tissue. Methods: A total of 35 cases of high-grade glioma samples and peritumoral tissue samples surgically removed in our hospital between December 2011 and October 2015 were collected, miRNA in tissue was extracted and the expression of miR-221 was determined, the protein in tissue was extracted and the expression of PTEN/Akt signaling molecules and EMT-related genes were determined. Results: miR-221 expression level as well as PI3K, Akt, Ki67, N-cadherin, Vimentin, OPN, Snail and Slug protein expression levels in glioma tissue was significantly higher than those in peritumoral tissue while PTEN and E-cadherin protein expression levels were significantly lower than those in peritumoral tissue; PTEN and E-cadherin protein expression levels in glioma tissue with high miR-221 expression were significantly lower than those in glioma tissue with low miR-221 expression while PI3K, Akt, Ki67, N-cadherin, Vimentin, OPN, Snail and Slug protein expression levels were significantly higher than those in glioma tissue with low miR-221 expression. Conclusion: Highly expressed miR-221 in glioma tissue can target and regulate the expression of PTEN/Akt signaling molecules and EMT-related genes, thus causing the glioma cell proliferation and invasion.