MicroRNA-145 contributes to enhancing radiosensitivity of cervical cancer cells

•MiR-145 is decreased in cervical cancer.•Decreased miR-145 is associated with advanced clinicopathological features.•HLTF is a direct target of miR-145 in cervical cancer cells.•MiR-145 enhances radiosensitivity of cervical cancer in vitro and in vivo. In our study, transcriptome microarrays are used to identify differentially expressed miRNAs and mRNAs in cervical cancer specimens. We find that microRNA-145 (miR-145) expression is significantly decreased in cervical cancer tissues and cell lines, and is associated with advanced cancer stages, large tumor size and moderate/poor differentiation. We show that miR-145 targets the DNA damage repair-associated gene Helicase-like transcription factor (HLTF), which is involved in radio-resistance. Moreover, miR-145 over-expression in cervical cancer cells enhances radiosensitivity in vitro and in vivo. These results indicate that targeting miR-145 may be a novel radiosensitizing strategy for cervical cancer.