Accumulating evidence indicates that dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) may contribute to the initiation and progression of cancer. However, the role of MIR-124 in lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) and the underlying mechanisms through which MIR-124 exerts its functions are not completely understood. In the present study, we detected MIR-124 and SOX9 expression in lung ADC tissues. The results showed that MIR-124 was significantly downregulated in the lung ADC tissues compared with that noted in the corresponding non-cancerous lung tissues and the level of SOX9 protein was inversely associated with the expression of MIR-124. The study in human lung ADC cell line A549 demonstrated that upregulation of MIR-124 could inhibit cell proliferation, migration and invasion. The bioinformatic analysis showed that there was a putative MIR-124 binding site in the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of SOX9. Using a luciferase reporter assay, we verified that SOX9 is a direct target of MIR-124. Furthermore, overexpression of MIR-124 repressed SOX9 expression, whereas inhibition of MIR-124 increased expression of SOX9 in the A549 cells. Finally, we identified that SOX9 was a functional mediator of MIR-124 in A549 cells. Taken together, our results suggest that MIR-124 functions as a tumor suppressor in lung ADC by directly targeting SOX9 and it may be a promising candidate for MIR-based therapy against lung ADC.
CITATION STYLE
Wang, X., Liu, Y., Liu, X., Yang, J., Teng, G., Zhang, L., & Zhou, C. (2016). MIR-124 inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion by directly targeting SOX9 in lung adenocarcinoma. Oncology Reports, 35(5), 3115–3121. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2016.4648
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