MicroRNA‐1204 promotes cell proliferation by regulating PITX1 in non‐small‐cell lung cancer.

MicroRNA‐1204 (miR‐1204), a member of the PVT1 region, may improve B cell differentiation and metastasis in breast cancer. However, the role of miR‐1204 in non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its mechanism remain unclear. The GEO public database was first employed to find differentially expressed genes. The expression level of miR‐1204 in patient tissues and NSCLC cell lines was determined using qRT‐PCR. Cell proliferation assays were performed to investigate the impact of miR‐1204 on cell growth. Bioinformatics analysis and dual‐luciferase reporter assays were conducted to find potential target genes. Finally, we performed in vivo experiments to identify the effect of miR‐1204 on tumor formation in nude mice. It was first found that miR‐1204 was overexpressed in NSCLC tissues and cells. miR‐1204 increased the proliferation of NSCLC cells and reduced cell cycle arrest in vitro. PITX1 (paired like homeodomain 1) was found as a potential target gene. In addition, PITX1 was also found to be low in expression in NSCLC tissues and cells. To show that PITX1 reversed the function of miR‐1204 in promoting proliferation, confirmatory experiments were performed. Moreover, high miR‐1204 and low PITX1 expression was highly correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and the TNM stage in patients diagnosed with NSCLC. Our results suggested that upregulated miR‐1204 in NSCLC is associated with NSCLC progression and promotes NSCLC cell proliferation by downregulating PITX1. miR‐1204 may act as a poor prognostic factor and a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]