MicroRNA-15b regulates cell cycle progression by targeting cyclins in glioma cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-protein-coding RNAs that function as post-transcriptional gene regulators. Recent evidence has shown that miRNA plays a pivotal role in the development of many cancers including glioma, a lethal brain cancer. We have recently compared the miRNA expression profiles between normal brain and glioma tissues from Chinese patients by miRNA microarray and identified a panel of differentially expressed miRNAs. Here, we studied the function of one miRNA, miR-15b, in glioma carcinogenesis and elucidated its downstream targets. Over-expression of miR-15b resulted in cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase while suppression of miR-15b expression resulted in a decrease of cell populations in G0/G1 and a corresponding increase of cell populations in S phase. We further showed that CCNE1 (encoding cyclin E1) is one of the downstream targets of miR-15b. Taken together, our findings indicate that miR-15b regulates cell cycle progression in glioma cells by targeting cell cycle-related molecules.