Objective: To investigate the effect of overexpression of p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) gene induced by As-miR-222 transfection on apoptosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC).

Methods: Tca8113 was treated with As-miR-222 and As-miR-222 NC respectively, the experiment was randomly divided into 3 groups: blank group, As-miR-222 transfection group and As-miR-222 NC transfection group. After the recombinants were transfected into Tca8113 with LipofectamineTMMAX, the expression of PUMA on mRNA and protein level was analyzed by RT-PCR and Western Blot, respectively. The proliferation of Tca8113 cells was detected by MTT assay. Cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry.

Results: Compared with blank group and As-miR-222 NC transfection group, miR-222 expression was down-regulated obviously P < 0.01 meanwhile the expression of PUMA at both mRNA level and protein level was up-regulated as validated by RT-PCR and Western Blot P < 0.05. MTT assay indicated that cell proliferation was inhibited by As-miR-222 transfection. Cell apoptosis ability was significantly increased after treatment with As-miR-222.

Conclusion: As-miR-222 transfection could up-regulate the expression of PUMA to induce apoptosis in human oral squamous cell carcinoma.