Abstract
Multidrug resistance of non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common clinical problem, which is one of the main reasons leading to the failure of chemotherapy. Therefore, how to overcome or prevent drug resistance has become a hot and difficult issue in clinical research. The present study was designed to investigate the expression patterns, functions and underlying mechanisms of MUC1 in regulating paclitaxel‑resistant cell line A549/PR in NSCLC. RT‑qPCR and western blot was performed to determine the mRNA and protein level, respectively. CCK‑8 was conducted to determine the cell viability of A549/PR cells. Moreover, flow cytometry assay was applied to examine the apoptosis rate of A549/PR. Herein, the MUC1 was over‑expressed in clinic NSCLC tissues and A549/PR cells. Silence of MUC1 could obviously suppress the proliferation and promote apoptosis of A549/PR cells in treatment of paclitaxel through up‑regulating the expression of Bax and Caspase‑3, and down‑regulating the expression of Bcl‑2, suggesting that chemotherapy combined with the modulation of MUC1 might be characterized as a promising therapeutic approach to overcome paclitaxel‑resistance in NSCLC in the future.