5-Aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy in human cervical cancer via the activation of microRNA-143 and suppression of the Bcl-2/Bax signaling pathway.

5-Aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy (ALA‑PDT) is a method using a photosensitizer and light radiation for disease treatment, and is currently used for the treatment of skin cancers, precancerous lesions and viral warts. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of ALA‑PDT on human cervical cancer through the regulation of microRNA‑143 (miR‑143) and the Bcl-2/Bax signaling pathway. The results demonstrated that ALA‑PDT reduced proliferation, increased cytotoxicity and induced apoptosis in HeLa human cervical carcinoma cells. Reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated that the expression levels of miR‑143 were increased following ALA‑PDT treatment. Western blotting indicated that the expression levels of Bcl‑2 and Bax were significantly reduced and increased, respectively, by ALA‑PDT treatment. In addition, upregulation of miR‑143 expression reduced Bcl‑2 expression and increased Bax expression in HeLa cells. However, downregulation of miR‑143 expression inhibited the effect of ALA‑PDT on Bcl-2/Bax protein expression. In conclusion, the current study demonstrated that ALA‑PDT affected human cervical cancer via the activation of miR-143 and the suppression of the Bcl-2/Bax signaling pathway.