| INTRODUC TI ONLung cancer, 85% of which is non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), is the leading cause of cancer-related death in both males and females worldwide. 1 Most lung cancer patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, and therefore have an extremely low 5-year survival rate. 2 Although great advances have been made in cancer therapeutic strategies over the past decade, the high recurrence rate still poses a high risk of decreased patient survival. 3 Therefore, elucidation of the elaborate molecular mechanism underlying NSCLC cell proliferation and metastasis is urgently needed to identify key molecular targets that can aid in the development of an effective target therapy.
AbstractDeregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) leads to malignant growth and aggressive invasion during cancer occurrence and progression. miR-147b has emerged as one of the cancer-related miRNAs that are dysregulated in multiple cancers. Yet, the relevance of miR-147b in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. In the present study, we aimed to report the biological function and signalling pathways mediated by miR-147b in NSCLC. Our results demonstrate that miR-147b expression is significantly downregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-147b decreased the proliferative ability, colony-forming capability, and invasive potential of NSCLC cells. Notably, our study identified ribosomal protein S15A (RPS15A), an oncogene in NSCLC, as a target gene of miR-147b. Our results showed that miR-147b negatively modulates RPS15A expression in NSCLC cells. An inverse correlation between miR-147b and RPS15A was evidenced in NSCLC specimens. Moreover, miR-147b overexpression downregulated the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling via targeting of RPS15A. Overexpression of RPS15A partially reversed the miR-147bmediated antitumour effect in NSCLC cells. Collectively, these findings reveal that miR-147b restricts the proliferation and invasion of NSCLC cells by inhibiting RPS15A-induced Wnt/β-catenin signalling and suggest that the miR-147b/RPS15A/ Wnt/β-catenin axis is an important regulatory mechanism for malignant progression of NSCLC.
K E Y W O R D Scancer, miR-147b, non-small-cell lung cancer, ribosomal protein S15A, Wnt