MicroRNA-217 inhibits cell proliferation and invasion by targeting Runx2 in human glioma

MircroRNA-217 (miR-217) has been showed to involve in the initiation and development of human cancers, and is recognize as a tumor suppressor miRNA in several tumors. However, the clinical significance and its underlying role in human glioma remain unclear. Herein, we found that the expression of miR-217 was significantly down-regulated in glioma tissues as compared with adjacent normal brain tissues. Clinical association analysis disclosed that low-expression of miR-217 was evidently negative associated with advanced tumor stage (grade III + IV) in glioma. Further function assays showed that miR-217 inhibited proliferation, colony formation, invasion and migration of glioma cells. Notably, runt-related transcription factors 2 (Runx2) was identified as a functional target of miR-217 in glioma. Furthermore, an inverse correlation between miR-217 and Runx2 expression was observed in glioma tissues. Downregulation of Runx2 has similar with inhibition effect of overexpression of miR-217, and upregulation of Runx2 reversed the effects of overexpressing of miR-217. Taken together, these results suggest a critical role of miR-217 in suppressing proliferation, migration, and invasion of glioma by targeting Runx2.