MicroRNA-22 suppresses cell proliferation, migration and invasion in oral squamous cell carcinoma by targeting NLRP3.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated as important regulators of carcinogenesis and tumor development. Recently, microRNA-22 (miR-22) has been reported to be a cancer-related miRNA in several types of tumors. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of miR-22 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We found that miR-22 expression was significantly decreased in OSCC tissues compared with that in the adjacent noncancerous tissues. Furthermore, lentivirus-mediated miR-22 overexpression markedly reduced OSCC cell viability, migration and invasion, whereas miR-22 inhibitor promoted these parameters. Mechanistically, NLR family pyrin domain containing three (NLRP3) was identified as a direct target of miR-22. miR-22 expression was inversely correlated with NLRP3 expression both in OSCC tissues and cell lines. Moreover, overexpression of miR-22 in OSCC cells could reverse the tumor-promoting effect of the activated NLRP3 inflammasome and vice versus. Therefore, our results indicate that miR-22 may play a suppressive role in OSCC by targeting NLRP3, which offer new insights into the molecular mechanisms of the growth and metastasis of OSCC.