Abstract: Objective To study the effect of miR-200c on the proliferation and apoptosis ofcervical cancer cells and its possible mechanism. Methods RT-PCR was used to detect the expression level of miR-200c in 52 cases of cervical cancer tissues and adjacent tissues. The miR-200c mimic or inhibitor was used to transfect cervical cancer cell lines, and the transfection efficiency was verified by RT-PCR. CCK8 assay was used to detect the proliferation activity of transfected cells, while the apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The target gene of miR-200c was predicted by bioinformatics analysis, and the dual-luciferase gene reporter assay was applied to verify the targeting relationship. RT-PCR was used to detect the expression level of the target gene in cancer tissuesand adjacent tissues. Pearson correlation analysis between miR-200c and target gene expression wasanalyzed. RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to detect the expression level of target gene incells transfected with siRNA or plasmid. Results The expression level of miR-200c in cervicalcancer tissues was significantly lower than that in adjacent tissues. The proliferation activity of HT3 cells transfected with miR-200c mimics was significantly reduced, and the apoptosis was significantly increased, while the proliferation activity of HeLa cells transfected with miR-200c inhibitors was significantly increased, and the apoptosis of the above cells was significantly reduced. Dual-luciferase gene reporter assay confirmed that ZEB1 is an indicator target of miR-200c, and miR-200c mimics significantly reduced the expression level of ZEB1, while the inhibitor exerted the opposite effect. The expression level of ZEB1 in cervical cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues, and its expression was significantly negatively correlated with the expression of miR-200c. Knockdown of ZEB1 significantly inhibited the proliferation of HT3 cells and promotedthe apoptosis of cells, while the overexpression of ZEB1 had the opposite effect. Conclusion miR-200c regulates the proliferation and apoptosis of cervical cancer cells by targeting the expression of ZEB1, thereby participating in the occurrence and development of cervical cancer.

Key words: cervical cancer, miR-200c, ZEB1, proliferation, apoptosis