Objectives The aims of this study were to investigate the functions of GAS5 as a tumor suppressor in cervical cancer and explore the mechanism.

Methods The expression of GAS5 and microRNA 21 (miR-21) was detected in primary cervical cancer tissue specimens, as well as in cervical cancer cell lines. We identified the interaction of GAS5 and miR-21 by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and dual-luciferase reporter assay. We also studied the functions of GAS5 in proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion in cervical cancer cells in vitro and vivo. Finally, the impact of GAS5 on cisplatin resistance and its mechanism in cervical cancer cells was also identified.

Results The expression of GAS5 and miR-21 was detected in primary cervical cancer tissue specimens, as well as in cervical cancer cell lines. GAS5, which is a tumor suppressor playing roles in inhibiting the malignancy of cervical cancer cells, including proliferation in vivo and vitro, migration, and invasion, has a low expression in cervical cancer tissue and cervical cancer cell lines, whereas miR-21 expression is high. GAS5 significantly decreased the expression of miR-21, and there is a reciprocal repression of gene expression between GAS5 and miR-21. Besides, most importantly, we found that high expression of GAS5 and low expression of miR-21 can enhance the sensitivity of SiHa/cDDP cancer cells to cisplatin. A further experiment for identifying the mechanism of cisplatin resistance by GAS5 showed that GAS5 can not only regulate phosphatase and tensin homolog through miR-21 but also influence the phosphorylation of Akt.

Conclusions Our results indicate that GAS5 is a direct target of miR-21 and can predict the clinical staging of cervical cancer. Most importantly, GAS5 can also influence cisplatin resistance in cervical cancer via regulating the phosphorylation of Akt. All of these suggest that GAS5 may be a novel therapeutic target for treating cervical cancer.