Table 3.
miRNAs involved in tumorigenesis of HNSCC.
| microRNA | Tumor sites or cell lines | Physiological effects | Potential target(s) | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| let-7a | Laryngeal squamous cancer tissues; Hep-2 cells | Let-7a mimic transfection suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis in Hep-2 cells | RAS and c-MYC | [42] |
| miR-10b | Human esophageal cancer cell lines (KYSE30, KYSE70, KYSE140, KYSE150, KYSE410, KYSE450, KYSE510, and EC9706) | Ectopic expression of miR-10b promoted migration and invasion | KLF4 | [169] |
| miR-15a | HNSCC SQ20B cell line | miR-15a inhibition promoted DNA synthesis | Cyclin E | [60] |
| miR-21 | Primary tongue carcinoma and primary esophageal squamous cell carcinomas; human tongue cancer cell lines (SCC-15 and CAL27) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines (TE6, TE8, TE10, TE11, TE12, and TE14) | miR-21 inhibition inhibited cell growth and promoted apoptosis | TPM1, PTEN, and PDCD4 | [51–53] |
| miR-31 | OSCC SAS cell line | Ectopic expression increased the oncogenic potential of HNSCC cells under normoxia conditions | FIH | [73] |
| miR-100 | UPCI:SCC029 cells | Transfection of miR-100 mimics inhibited proliferation | D1, EGR2, MMP13, and FGFR3 | [62] |
| miR-125b | UPCI:SCC029 cells | Transfection of miR-125b mimics inhibited proliferation | KLF13, CXCL11, and FOXA1 | [62] |
| miR-138 | Six paired HNSCC cell lines (UM1/UM2, 1386Tu/1386Ln and 686Tu/686Ln with different migration or invasion ability | Ectopic expression caused cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and suppressed invasion | RhoC and ROCK2 | [43, 44] |
| miR-141 | 5–8F cell line (an NPC cell line) knockdowned c-MYC or re-expressed SPLUNC1 | miR-141 inhibition decreased migration, inhibited invasion, and slightly enhanced apoptosis | BRD3, UBAP1, and PTEN | [47] |
| miR-184 | TSCC Cal27, HN21B, and HN96 cell lines | miR-184 inhibition resulted in proliferation inhibition and apoptosis | c-Myc | [61] |
| miR-196 | Esophageal cancer tissues | Downregulation of miR-196 inhibited growth and conferred drug-sensitivity of esophageal cancer cells | N.D. | [41] |
| miR-200c | 5 primary HNSCC CSC | Upregulation of miR-200c inhibited the cancer stem cell-like properties of ALDH1+CD44+ HNSCC | Bmi-1 | To be published |
| miR-203 | HNSCC JHU-012 cells | miR-203 induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis upon UVC irradiation | DeltaNp63 | [64] |
| miR-204 | HNSCC cell lines (SCC25, SCC35, SCC58, SCC61, SCC135, SCC151, SQ20B, SQ38, and JSQ3) | miR-204 mimics repressed proliferation, invasion, and migration | N.D. | [45] |
| miR-210 | Pancreatic cancer cell line SU86.86 and Fadu cells | Ectopic expression repressed xenograft tumor growth | HOXA1, HOXA9, and FGFRL1 | [70] |
| miR-211 | OSCC SAS cell line | Enforced expression of miR-211 enhanced migration, invasion, and colony formation | N.D. | [57] |
| miR-222 | HNSCC UM1/UM2 cell lines | Transfection of miR-222 mimics inhibited invasion | MMP1 and SOD2 | [58] |
| miR-373 | The esophageal cancer cell lines (CE48T, CE146T, KYSE70, KYSE150, KYSE170, KYSE5, 10KYSE50, and CE81T) | miR-373 enhances cell proliferation in esophageal cancer cell lines | LATS2 | [50] |
| miR-503 | UMSCC10B cell line | Transfection of miR-503 decreased S phase and cell growth | Cyclin D1 | [59] |
N.D: not determined.
Abbreviations: HNSCC: head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; OSCC: oral squamous cell carcinoma. NPC: nasopharyngeal carcinoma; TSCC: tongue squamous cell carcinoma; CSC: cancer stem cell.