Abstract
Effect of targeted regulation of mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3 (Smad3) by microRNA-15a (miR-15a) on the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and its related mechanisms were investigated. Fifty pairs of NSCLC and para-cancerous tissues were collected to identify the expression level of miR-15a in NSCLC, para-cancerous tissue, and cell lines A549, H1299, H1975 and BEAS-2B by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-PCR); A549 cells were transfected with miR-15a mimic; the MTT assay was performed to detect the role of miR-15a transfection in proliferation of A549 cells, the wound healing assay was carried out to identify the role of miR-15a in migration of A549 cells; Transwell invasion assay was conducted to analyze the role of miR-15a in invasion of A549 cells; western blotting was carried out to find the effect of miR-15a on Smad3 expression, and Spearman's rank correlation was used to analyze the correlation between miR-15a and Smad3 expression. NSCLC tissues and cells showed significantly lower miR-15a expression, compared with para-cancerous tissues and normal cell lines (P=0.023). miR-15a was significantly more expressed in A549 cells transfected with miR-15a mimic (P=0.043). Overexpression of miR-15a can significantly inhibit A549 cell proliferation (P=0.038), migration (P=0.033) and invasion (P=0.025), and significantly reduced the expression level of Smad3 (P=0.031) in A549 cells. Spearman's rank correlation showed negative correlation of miR-15a expression with Smad3, which may indicate negative regulation (r=-0.34, P<0.0001). Inhibition of proliferation, migration and invasion of NSCLC cells can be achieved with targeted regulation of Smad3 by miR-15a.