Overexpression of microRNA‑936 suppresses non‑small cell lung cancer cell proliferation and invasion via targeting E2F2

Abstract

MicroRNA (miR)‑936 has been reported to inhibit the cell cycle and glioma cell proliferation. However, the roles of miR‑936 in other human tumors remain largely unknown. In the present study, it was indicated that miR‑936 was significantly downregulated in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues by reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR). Results also indicated that miR‑936 was downregulated in NSCLC cell lines compared with 16HBE cells. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that overexpression of miR‑936 significantly inhibited the proliferation, cell cycle progression and invasion of NSCLC cells. Notably, E2F2 was identified as a target gene of miR‑936 in NSCLC cells. The results indicated that E2F2 was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines, and its expression was negatively correlated with that of miR‑936 in NSCLC tissues. Overexpression of miR‑936 significantly reduced the protein expression levels of E2F2 in NSCLC cells. Furthermore, restoration of E2F2 rescued the proliferation and invasion of NSCLC cells transfected with miR‑936 mimics. To the best of our knowledge, the present findings demonstrated for the first time that miR‑936 suppressed NSCLC progression by directly targeting E2F2.