MicroRNA-298 inhibits malignant phenotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer by regulating the expression of EZH2

MicroRNA (miRNA or miR)-298 has been reported to be downregulated and to modify the expression of the polycomb protein enhancer of zeste 2 (EZH2) in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). To date, no functional evidence of a miR-298-EZH2 axis in EOC has been documented. The present study aimed to investigate the associations of miR-298 and/or EZH2 expression with clinicopathological features of EOC patients, and revealed their roles in cell motility based on EOC cell lines. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect the expression levels of miR-298 and EZH2 messenger RNA in human EOC tissues and cell lines. Wound healing and transwell assays were performed to determine the function of the miR-298-EZH2 axis on cell migration and invasion, respectively. Compared with normal tissues, miR-298 expression was significantly downregulated, while EZH2 expression was significantly upregulated, in human EOC tissues (both P=0.001). In addition, miR-298 downregulation and EZH2 upregulation were significantly associated with high clinical stage (both P=0.01) and pathological grade (both P=0.02) of EOC patients. Furthermore, the ectopic expression of miR-298 could efficiently inhibit cell migration and invasion. Notably, the overexpression of EZH2 could restore the cell migration and invasion abilities suppressed by miR-298. Our data offer convincing evidence that the dysregulation of the miR-298-EZH2 axis may be important in tumor progression of EOC patients. The present study also confirmed a tumor-suppressive role of miR-298 in modulating EOC cell motility by regulating the expression of EZH2, implying its potential as a novel miRNA-based therapeutic target for the treatment of human EOC.