MicroRNA-30e reduces cell growth and enhances drug sensitivity to gefitinib in lung carcinoma

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in variousbiological processes,including malignancy. Here, we demonstrated that miR-30e levels were markedly reduced in human lung carcinoma specimens in comparisonwith adjacent normal tissues.In addition, miR-30eamounts were starkly lower in the resistant PC9/gefitinib (PC9G) cancer cells compared with PC9 cells. Meanwhile, miR-30eoverexpression inPC9G cells resulted in reduced cell proliferation and migration,reversing drug resistance to gefitinib.Conversely,miR-30e silencing in PC9 cells increased proliferation as well as migration, and conferred resistance to gefitinib.Moreover, HOXA1, which was identified asa new miR-30etarget, plays important roles in regulating cell fate, early developmental patterns and organogenesis.Importantly, miR-30ealso inhibited PC9G growth in vivo. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that miR-30eshould be considered a tumor suppressor miRNA, which could be used in treatinghuman lung cancer.