RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE:To investigate the expression difference and its mechanism of miR-27a-3p and HOXB8 protein in cer-vical cancer tissues of HPV16-positive and HPV16-negative patients. METHODS:A total of 120 patients with cervical cancer in our hospital during Jan. 2012-Jan. 2016 were divided into HPV16-positive group(60 cases)and HPV16-negative group(60 cases) according to HPV16 infection situation. The expression of miR-27a-3p mRNA and HOXB8 mRNA in cervical cancer tissue were de-tected by RT-qPCR. The expression of HOXB8 protein was detected by Western blotting assay. DNA methylation level of miR-27a-3p promoter region was detected by nested-down methylation specific PCR (nMS-PCR). Histone methylation level of miR-27a-3p promoter region was detected by chromatin immunoprecipitation PCR (CHIP-PCR). The expression of miR-27a-3p mRNA and HOXB8 mRNA were detected after transfecting miR-27a-3p mimic and inhibitor into Human cervical cancer cell line SiHa,respectively. RESULTS:The expression of miR-27a-3p in HPV16-positive group was significantly lower than HPV16-nega-tive group,while HOXB8 mRNA and protein expression,DNA and histone methylation levels of miR-27a-3p promoter region were significantly higher than HPV16-negative group,with statistical significance (P<0.05 or P<0.01). After transfecting miR-27a-3p mimic into SiHa cells,the expression of miR-27a-3p was increased significantly,while that of HOXB8 mRNA was de-creased significantly;after miR-27a-3p inhibitor transfection,the expression of miR-27a-3p was decreased significantly,while that of HOXB8 mRNA was increased significantly,with statistical significance(P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS:HPV16 may down-regu-late the expression of miR-27a-3p through DNA methylation and histone methylation of promoter region,so as to influence the gen-eration and development of cervical cancer. HOXB8 may be the target protein of miR-27a-3p.