investigating the effects of mir-138 replacement on inhibiting cell migration and induction of apoptosis in breast cancer cell line

Background and aim: micrornas (small noncoding rnas of 20-24 nucleotides long) are involved in the regulation of post-transcriptional gene expression, have close links with various cancers. of these, mir-138 is a well-known microrna with multiple tumor suppressor effects. in this study we investigated the effects of mir-138 replacement on inhibiting cell migration and induction of apoptosis in breast cancer cell line. methods: at first mir-138 mimic was transfected into mad-mb-231 cells using electroporation method and optimum dose of mir-138 was determinded by mtt assay. at next stages we evaluated the effects of mir-138 mimic on cell migration and apoptosis using wound healing assay and annexin v- fitc/pi kit (flowcytometry) respectively. all data was analyzed by graph pad prism software. results: the optimum dose of transfected mir-138 mimic into mda-mb-231 cells was determinded in 20 pmol/ul. the flowcytometery method demonstrated that transfected cells with mir-138 mimic have significant apoptotic profiles in comparison with control cells and transfected cells with nc-mir-mimic. as well as, wound healing assay showed that mir-138 mimic decreases the migration ability of cells. conclusion: this study showed that mir-138 is downregulated in mda-mb-231cells in comparison with control cells. also the transfection of mir-138 mimic into mda-mb-231 cells decreases cell migration and induces cell apoptosis.