Introduction:

Glioma, as the deadliest malignant tumor, is one of the most difficult problems in medicine. This study aims to further elucidate the molecular mechanism of glioma development and explore possible miRNAs as targets for glioma prognosis and molecular therapy.

Material and methods:

RT-qPCR was used to determine the expression of miR-3188 in glioma tissues and cells. The relationship between miR-3188 and pathological features, as well as its prognostic importance, were examined using the chisquare test and Cox regression analysis. The dual luciferase reporting assay was utilized to confirm the targeting of miR-3188 and MAPK1. Transwell assay and Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays were used to identify the roles that miR-3188 plays in cell metastasis and proliferation, respectively.

Results:

Research has revealed downregulation of miR-3188 in the tissues and cells of glioma, which is strongly correlated with the tumor size, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score, World Health Organization (WHO) grade, and patients’ survival rate in glioma. Four downstream target genes were screened by bioinformatics analysis, among which MAPK1 was abnormally expressed in glioma, and was negatively correlated with miR-3188. When miR-3188 was overexpressed, the malignant behavioral activity of glioma cells was significantly decreased; however, the inhibitory effect was reversed when MAPK1 was overexpressed.

Conclusions:

miR-3188 is a potential predictor of malignant development and poor prognosis in glioma patients and targets MAPK1 to inhibit the progression of glioma.