MicroRNA-1915-3p prevents the apoptosis of lung cancer cells by downregulating DRG2 and PBX2

• Published in: Molecular medicine reports Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 505 - 512
• Main Authors: XU, CHENGSHAN, LI, HENGHENG, ZHANG, LING, JIA, TIANJUN, DUAN, LIANNING, LU, CHENGRONG
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece D.A. Spandidos 01.01.2016; Spandidos Publications; Spandidos Publications UK Ltd
• Subjects: Analysis; Apoptosis; Apoptosis - genetics; Base Sequence; Biotechnology; Cell Line, Tumor; Down-Regulation - genetics; DRG2; Drug therapy; Etoposide; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Genetic aspects; GTP-binding protein; GTP-Binding Proteins - genetics; GTP-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Health aspects; Homeobox; Homeodomain Proteins - genetics; Homeodomain Proteins - metabolism; Humans; Leukemia; Lung cancer; Lung Neoplasms - genetics; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Lymphocytes B; MicroRNA; MicroRNAs - genetics; MicroRNAs - metabolism; miR-1915-3p; miRNA; Molecular Sequence Data; Non-coding RNA; PBX2; Plasmids; Post-transcription; Protein binding; Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - genetics; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - metabolism; Regulatory sequences; Studies; Transcription; Tumor cell lines; China; Beijing China; United States > US
• ISSN: 1791-2997; 1791-3004
• DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2015.4565

Micro (mi)RNAs are short non-coding RNA molecules, which post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression and exert key roles in cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis. In the present study, the mechanism and the function of miR-1915-3p in the apoptotic regulation of lung cancer cell lines (NCI-H441 and NCI-H1650) were investigated. The expression analysis confirmed that the expression of miR-1915-3p was markedly decreased in the apoptotic cells. The overexpression of miR-1915-3p in the lung cancer cells prevented apoptosis induced by etoposide. Developmentally regulated GTP-binding protein 2 (DRG2) and pre-B cell leukemia homeobox 2 (PBX2) were identified as downstream targets of miR-1915-3p, which was shown to bind directly to the 3′-untranslated region of DRG2 and PBX2, subsequently lowering their mRNA and protein expression levels. Co-expression of miR-1915-3p and DRG2/PBX2 in the NCI-H441 and NCI-H1650 cells partly circumvented the effect of miR-1915-3p on apoptosis. The results in the present study revealed that miR-1915-3p functions as a silencer of apoptosis, which regulates lung cancer apoptosis via targeting DRG2/PBX2, and consequently this miRNA may be a putative therapeutic target in lung cancer.