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Type I insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-IR), which is frequently overexpressed in a variety of human cancers including lung cancer, mediates cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth. In this study, we used a human U6 promoter-driven DNA-template approach to induce hairpin RNA (hpRNA)-triggered RNAi to silence IGF-IR gene expression in the human lung cancer cell line A549, and then evaluate its effects on apoptosis, apoptosis-related gene expression, and the growth of tumor cells in vitro and in nude mice. IGF-IR expression levels were found to markedly decrease in cells transfected with a plasmid expressing hairpin siRNA for IGF-IR (by more than 78.9%). Down-regulation of IGR-IR concomitantly accompanied reduction of bcl-2 as well as pERK and pAkt levels, activation of caspase-3, apoptosis and growth inhibition of A549 cells in vitro. Direct intratumoral injections of plasmid DNA expressing hpRNA for IGF-IR significantly regressed pre-established tumors in nude mice. Our results support the therapeutic potential of RNAi as a method for gene therapy in treating lung cancer.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are one class of non-coding RNAs that play an important role in post-transcriptional regulation via the degradation or translational inhibition of their target genes. MicroRNA-150 (miR-150) plays a vital role in regulating the development of B and T lymphocytes. Although the dysregulation of miR-150 was confirmed in human myocardial infarction, little is known regarding the biological functions of miR-150 in response to reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated gene regulation in cardiac myocytes. Using quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, we demonstrated that the level of miR-150 was up-regulated in cardiac myocytes after treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). To identify the potential roles of miR-150 in H 2 O 2 -mediated gene regulation, we modulated expression of miR-150 using miR-150 inhibitor and miR-150 mimics. Results showed that silencing expression of miR-150 decreased H 2 O 2 -induced cardiac cell death and apoptosis. In lymphocytes, c-myb was a direct target of miR-150. In cardiac myocytes, we found that c-myb was also involved in miR-150-mediated H 2 O 2 -induced cardiac cell death. These results suggested that miR-150 participates in H 2 O 2 -mediated gene regulation and functional modulation in cardiac myocytes. MiR-150 may play an essential role in heart diseases related to ROS, such as cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Cancer invasion and metastasis, involving a variety of pathological processes and cytophysiological changes, contribute to the high mortality of lung cancer. The type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R), associated with cancer progression and invasion, is a potential anti-invasion and anti-metastasis target in lung cancer. To inhibit the invasive properties of lung cancer cells, we successfully down-regulated IGF-1R gene expression in A549 human lung cancer cells by small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology, and evaluated its effects on invasion-related gene expression, tumor cell in vitro invasion, and metastasis in xenograft nude mice. A549 cells transfected with a plasmid expressing hairpin siRNA for IGF-1R showed a significantly decreased IGF-1R expression at the mRNA level as well as the protein level. In biological assays, transfected A549 cells showed a significant reduction of cell-matrix adhesion, migration and invasion. Consistent with these results, we found that down-regulation of IGR-1R concomitantly accompanied by a large reduction in invasion-related gene expressions, including MMP-2, MMP-9, u-PA, and IGF-1R specific downstream p-Akt. Direct tail vein injections of plasmid expressing hairpin siRNA for IGF-1R significantly inhibited the formation of lung metastases in nude mice. Our results showed the therapeutic potential of siRNA as a method for gene therapy in inhibiting lung cancer invasion and metastasis.