miR-210 inhibits cell migration and invasion by targeting the brain-derived neurotrophic factor in glioblastoma.

Recently, there is increasing evidence that microRNAs are related to the development, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of glioblastoma. microRNA-210 (miR-210) had been identified in many human cancers, but the specific function of miR-210 remains unclear in glioblastoma. The present study mainly focused on exploring its biological role and potential molecular mechanisms in glioblastoma. We found that miR-210 expression was decreased in glioblastoma, and downregulation of miR-210 was related to worse prognosis in glioblastoma patients. In addition, miR-210 overexpression inhibited the migration and invasion of human glioblastoma cells. At the same time, we found that miR-210 directly targets the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and reduces BDNF expression level. Consistently, BDNF silencing had the same effects as miR-210 overexpression in glioblastoma, and upregulation of BDNF counteracted the inhibitory effect of miR-210 in glioblastoma. In conclusion, miR-210 suppressed the migration and invasion of glioblastoma cells by targeting BDNF.