Mir-326 potentiates radiosensitivity of cervical squamous cell carcinoma through downregulating SMO expression in the Hedgehog signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Radiotherapy resistance affects the therapeutic effect of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). Smoothened (Smo) is an anticancer target of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway and its mutation is related to drug resistance. OBJECTIVE: To explore the roles of miR-326 and Smoothened (SMO) on radiation resistance in patients with cervical carcinoma. METHODS: Expression of miR-326 and SMO in cervical cancer tissue and radioresistant cell lines were analyzed. The radiation response with the expression of miR-326 was evaluated in tissue and cells. Bioinformatics analysis and literature review were performed to explore the target of miR-326. The regulation of miR-326 to SMO mRNA was verified through the dual-luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: Patients with poor radiation response have lower miR-326 and higher SMO expression. Upregulation of miR-326 decreased SMO expression and its downstream proteins but does not affect the proliferation of CSCC cells. The upregulation of miR-326 increased radiation sensitivity of the CSCC cell through downregulating SMO and its downstream proteins in the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: miR-326 may predict the treatment response to radiation, and upregulating miR-326 may improve the treatment response to radiation.