Aberrant expression of microRNAs has been shown to regulate the biological processes of lung cancer cells. However, the role of miR-638 in the development of NSCLC is still unclear. In this study, low miR-638 and high SOX2 were shown to be associated with tumor size and metastasis of NSCLC patients. Downregulated miR-638 could promote cell invasion and proliferation, while high miR-638 expression reversed the effect. Furthermore, miR-638 could regulate SOX2 by directly binding to its 3'-UTR. Silencing of SOX2 by siRNA partially abolished the enhancement of cell invasion and proliferation induced by downregulated miR-638. Aberrant miR-638 expression could modulate the expression levels of markers of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Our results indicate that miR-638 may play a pivotal role in the development of NSCLC.
Keywords: Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition; Invasion; Non-small-cell lung cancer; Proliferation; SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2; miR-638.
Copyright © 2014 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.