Quercetin Inhibits Proliferation and Migration via miR-301b-3p/Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog Axis Regulation in Laryngocarcinoma Cells

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the role of miR-301b-3p in promoting tumor cell proliferation and metastasis and explored the anti-cancer effects of quercetin in laryngocarcinoma cells. Through Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation analyses, we examined the effects of miR-301b-3p and PTEN on potential target genes. We measured laryngocarcinoma cell activity and apoptosis using CCK8 and flow cytometry, respectively, and assessed migration and invasion through transwell assay. qRT-PCR was used to determine the levels of miR-301b-3p and PTEN in laryngocarcinoma cells. Luciferase activity and western blot assays were employed to study the interaction between miR-301b-3p and PTEN. We found that miR-301b-3p was associated with various types of cancer, and pathways related to miR-301b-3p overlapped with those of PTEN. Quercetin effectively inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of laryngocarcinoma cells, but these effects were reversed by miR-301b-3p overexpression. The level of miR-301b-3p was significantly increased in laryngocarcinoma cells, leading to down-regulation of PTEN protein and enhanced tumor cell activity. However, restoring PTEN alleviated the malignant growth caused by miR-301b-3p overexpression. Ultimately, quercetin exerted its inhibitory effects on proliferation, migration, and invasion by regulating the miR-301b-3p/PTEN axis in laryngocarcinoma cells. These findings highlight the potential of quercetin as a promising treatment option for laryngocarcinoma.