MiR-218 inhibits HMGB1-mediated autophagy in endometrial carcinoma cells during chemotherapy

Endometrial carcinoma is the most common gynecological malignancy among women worldwide. Although treatment for EC has improved with the introduction of Paclitaxel (Tax) chemotherapy, the majority of patients will develop resistance to the treatment, leading to poor prognosis. One of the causes of chemoresistance is the increased ability to undergo autophagy. In this study, we identified that miR-218 was significantly down-regulated in Tax-resistant EC cells compared to the non-drug resistant cell lines, and overexpression of miR-218 sensitized paclitaxel resistant EC cells to paclitaxel. Moreover, we demonstrated that miR-218 directly binds to the 3’-UTR of HMGB1 gene. HMGB1 was upregulated in paclitaxel resistant EC cells, it mediated autophagy and contributed to chemotherapy resistance in endometrial carcinoma in vitro. HMGB1-mediated autophagy could be suppressed by miR-218 overexpression in Tax resistant EC cells. In summary, we determined the targeting role of miR-218 to HMGB1 and the regulation of miR-218 on the HMGB1-mediated cell autophagy during chemotherapy resistance in endometrial carcinoma cells. These results reveal novel potential role of miR-218 against chemotherapy resistance during the treatment of endometrial carcinoma.