miR-146b-5p inhibits glioma migration and invasion by targeting MMP16

• We find miR-146b-5p decreases in glioma tissues and is negatively correlated with MMP16 expression.
• We find the loss of chromosome 10q cause miR-146b-5p decreases in glioma tissues.
• We find miR-146b-5p inhibits the migration and invasion of glioblastoma cell lines via targeting MMP16 mRNA.

miR-146b-5p is frequently down-regulated in solid tumours, including prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and glioblastoma. However, the tumour-suppressive effects of miR-146b-5p in malignant gliomas have not been investigated thoroughly. Here, we found that decreased miR-146b-5p expression was strongly correlated with chromosome 10q loss in gliomas, especially glioblastomas. The overexpression of miR-146b-5p in glioblastoma cell lines led to MMP16 mRNA silencing, MMP2 inactivation, and the inhibition of tumour cell migration and invasion. Our results suggest that the restoration of miR-146b-5p expression may be a feasible approach for inhibiting the migration and invasion of malignant gliomas.