Search

Background and objective Lung cancer is the leading cancer-related death worldwide. Patients with lung cancer mainly died of tumor metastasis and invasion. Protein kinase CK2 is an ubiquitous serine/threonine protein kinase and is frequently upregulated in various human tumors. This study aims to explore the effect and molecular mechanism of the invasion and migration of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells after knock-down of CK2α expression. Methods The pSilencerTM 4.1-siCK2α-eGFP of lentiviral-mediated shRNA was constructed. The expression of CK2α was knock-downed, and a stable A549 cell line was established. The invasion and migration of A549 cell line was detected through Transwell and Boyden chamber assays. The protein expression of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (EMT) was evaluated using Western blot analysis. Results The invasion and migration of A549 cells were significantly inhibited after the knockdown of CK2α expression compared with that in the control group. p-PTEN, Akt, p-Akt473, p-Akt308, p-PDK1, p-c-Raf, and p-GSK-3β were significantly downregulated, whereas PTEN was upregulated. Moreover, vimentin, β-catenin, Snail, MMP2, and MMP9 were significantly downregulated after reducing the CK2α expression. Conclusion CK2α might regulate the invasion and migration of A549 cells through the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β/Snail signaling pathway, which controls EMT in lung adenocarcinoma.

Background and objective Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and metastasis is the major cause of death in lung cancer patients. MiR-373 is closely associated with invasion and metastasis in other tumor cells. This study explored the expression of miR-373-3p in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its effect on the invasive and metastatic capabilities of lung adenocarcinoma cells, as well as their mechanisms of action. Methods The expression of miR-373-3p in NSCLC tissues and lung adenocarcinoma cell lines was detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The roles of miR-373-3p in regulating lung adenocarcinoma cell invasion and metastatic properties were analyzed with miR-373-3p mimic/inhibitor-transfected cells via Transwell chamber assay. Matrix metalloproteinase MMP-9 and MMP-14 protein levels were detected by Western blot in lung cancer cells after transfection. Results MiR-373-3p was upregulated in 51 NSCLC tissues and 5 NSCLC cell lines. Gain-of-function and loss-of-function studies showed that overexpression of miR-373-3p promoted H1299 cell migration and invasion, which resulted in upregulation of MMP-9 and MMP-14. By contrast, miR-373-3p knockdown inhibited these processes in A549 cells and downregulated the expression of MMP-9 and MMP-14. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that miR-373-3p participated in the invasion and metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma cells, partly by upregulation of MMP-9 and MMP-14.