• Chuangxin Liao, Wenli Chen, and Jinshan Wang.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Eastern District of the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: lcxsl@126.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2019 Jan 1; 121: e519-e527.

ObjectiveMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs that play important roles in tumor development and progression. miR-20a acts as an oncogene in many cancers; however, the underlying role of miR-20a in human glioma remains unknown.MethodsGlioma tissue samples were obtained from 32 patients with primary glioma who had undergone surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China). Twenty-two normal brain tissue samples used as controls were obtained by internal decompression in patients who had undergone surgery for cerebral injury and cerebral hemorrhage at the same hospital.ResultsQuantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction showed upregulation of miR-20a in glioma tissues and cell lines compared with normal brain tissue and normal human astrocytes. Functional assays showed that miR-20a promotes proliferation and invasion and inhibits apoptosis in glioma cells. The bioinformatic analysis showed that CELF2 (CUGBP Elav-like family member 2) is a direct target gene of miR-20a, which was confirmed using a luciferase reporter assay. Downregulation of CELF2 reversed the effects of inhibiting miR-20a expression.ConclusionsCollectively, these results suggest a critical role for miR-20a in glioma cell apoptosis, proliferation, and invasion via the direct targeting of CELF2 and indicate its potential application in cancer therapy.Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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