Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to illuminate effects of LncRNA MEG3 on the viability and apoptosis of human glioma cells as well as the mechanisms involved.Methods The expressions of MEG3 and microRNA-21(miR-21) in normal human astrocytes cell line(NHAs)and human glioma cell line(U87)was detected by Real-Time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR).U87 cells was transfected with MEG3 plasmid alone or transfected with both MEG3 plasmid and miR-21 mimic,cell viability was detected by CCK-8 assay,cell apoptosis was detected by TUNNEL,and the expression of Bcl-2/Bax and Cleaved caspase-3 in cells was detected by Western blot.Results Compared with NHAs,the expression of MEG3 in U87 was significantly decreased and the expression of miR-21 was significantly increased.Overexpression of MEG3 significantly decreased the expression of miR-21 in U87 cells,inhibited the viability of U87 cells,decreased the level of Bcl-2/Bax,increased the content of Cleaved-caspase-3 to promote apoptosis;Co-overexpression of MEG3 and miR-21 significantly increased the viability of U87 cells,elevated Bcl-2/Bax levels,and decreased the expression of Cleaved caspase-3 to inhibit apoptosis.Conclusion Overexpression of MEG3 reduces the viability and promotes apoptosis of glioma cells by inhibiting miR-21.

Key words: LncRNA, MicroRNA, Glioma, Apoptosis, Molecular mechanism