title: MicroRNA-148a suppresses epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition by targeting ROCK1 in non-small cell lung cancer cells.
abstract: Recent studies have implied that miRNAs act as crucial modulators for epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We found that miR-148a is significantly downregulated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared to adjacent non-cancerous lung tissues, and the downregulated miR-148a was significantly associated with lymph-node metastasis. Functional assays demonstrated that miR-148a inhibited EMT in NSCLC cells. Moreover, miR-148a decreased 3'-untranslated region luciferase activity of ROCK1 and ROCK1 protein expression. Knockdown of ROCK1 reversed EMT resembling that of miR-148a overexpression. Furthermore, ROCK1 was widely upregulated in NSCLC, and its mRNA levels were inversely correlated with miR-148a expression. These findings suggest that miR-148a acts as a novel EMT suppressor in NSCLC cells, at least in part by modulation of ROCK1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Yinzhou People's Hospital, Ningbo 315040, China.
authors.forename: Jipeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yulan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Yiping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Wanjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000235:genetics*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D034622:RNA Interference; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; C550570:MIRN148 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D008156:Luciferases; C515851:ROCK1 protein, human; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases