miR-219 inhibits the growth and metastasis of TSCC cells by targeting PRKCI.

Tongue squamous cells carcinoma (TSCC) is the most common type in oral cancers. Recently, accumulating evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in tumorigenesis. Here, we demonstrated that miR-219 was significantly downregulated in TSCC tissues and cell lines. miR-219 overexpression remarkably suppressed cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion of TSCC cells. In addition, protein kinase CI (PRKCI) was identified as a target of miR-219, and overexpression of PRKCI could significantly attenuated the tumor suppressive effects of miR-219. Furthermore, PRKCI inversely correlates with miR-219 in TSCC tissues. Taken together, miR-219 inhibited growth and metastasis by targeting PRKCI and might be used as a potential target for the treatment of TSCC.