Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Suppression of proliferation, migration and invasion in non-small cell lung cancer cells via profilin 2 inhibition by microRNA-194

Jinjiao Zhang¹, Yong Gao² , Lei Zhang¹, Tao Wang¹, Hong Xu¹, Gang Chen¹

¹Department of Thoracic Surgery; ²Department of Emergency, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510900, China.

For correspondence:- Yong Gao Email: yonggao_smu@163.com Tel:+862061780161

Accepted: 25 April 2018 Published: 28 May 2018

Citation: Zhang J, Gao Y, Zhang L, Wang T, Xu H, Chen G. Suppression of proliferation, migration and invasion in non-small cell lung cancer cells via profilin 2 inhibition by microRNA-194. Trop J Pharm Res 2018; 17(5):773-780 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v17i5.4

© 2018 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the anti-tumor effect of microRNA-194 (miR-194) and possible relationship with profilin 2.

Methods: The expressions of miR-194 and profilin 2 were investigated via bioinformatic analysis and were further verified using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in both normal and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. Dual luciferase reporter assay, together with transfection, was applied to determine the effect of miR-194 and profilin 2 on proliferation, migration and invasion, and its underlying mechanisms.

Results: Relatively low expression of miR-194 and high expression of profilin 2 in cancerous lung tissue were found through bioinformatic analysis and further confirmed by qRT-PCR on normal and NSCLC cell lines. Profilin 2 was the direct target of miR-194. Also, miR-194 overexpression inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of NSCLC cells, and this suppressive effect was partially reversed by transfection of pcDNA3.1-PFN2 plasmid.

Conclusion: The results show that miR-194 plays a tumor suppressor role in NSCLC development. It inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of NSCLC cells via profilin 2 suppression. Interventions targeting the miR-194/profilin 2 axis may therefore serve as a clinical strategy for the prevention and treatment of NSCLC metastases.

Keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer, MicroRNA-194, Profilin 2, Proliferation, Migration, Invasion