MiRNA-30a-5p/VCAN Arrests Tumor Metastasis via Modulating the Adhesion of Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells

Previous research indicated that the dysregulation of miRNA-30a-5p has a correlation with cell metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). But the study about the molecular regulatory mechanism of miRNA-30a-5p in LUAD cell metastasis is limited. Thus, we discussed the mechanism of miRNA-30a-5p and its biological function in LUAD cells. By utilizing bioinformatics analysis, how miRNA-30a-5p was expressed in LUAD tissue was determined and its downstream target genes were predicted. The signaling pathways where these target genes enriched were analyzed. Several in vitro experiments were applied for cell function detection: dual-luciferase assay for validating the targeting relationship between miRNA-30a-5p and its target gene; quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction for testing the expression of miRNA-30a-5p and its target gene in LUAD cells; MTT, transwell, cell adhesion, flow cytometry and immunofluorescence assays for examining the capabilities of LUAD cells to proliferate, migrate, invade, adhere, apoptosis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) effect; Western blot for determining the expression of adhesion-related proteins and EMT-related proteins. Down-regulated miRNA-30a-5p was discovered in LUAD cells, but on the contrary, VCAN was upregulated. MiRNA-30a-5p overexpression notably repressed the virulent progression of LUAD cells. Besides, dual-luciferase assay validated the targeting relationship between miRNA-30a-5p and VCAN. MiRNA-30a-5p, by negatively regulating VCAN, was capable of hindering LUAD cell proliferation, migration, invasion, adhesion, viability and EMT. It was illustrated that miRNA-30a-5p could downregulate VCAN to retard the malignant progression of LUAD cells, which provides novel insights into LUAD pathogenesis, suggesting that miRNA-30a-5p/VCAN axis can be a promising anti-cancer target for LUAD.