Following removal of 6 low-quality samples, we used 138 patients (AEGIS-1) as a discovery set to identify four miRNAs (miR-146a-5p, miR-324-5p, miR-223-3p, and miR-223-5p) that were downregulated in the bronchial airway of lung cancer patients (ANOVA <i>P</i> < 0.002, FDR < 0.2).
MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs, which are involved in tumor initiation and progression. miR‑223 is a tumor suppressor miRNA that has been reported in various types of cancer, including lung cancer.
To this end, we investigated the involvement of miR‑223 in erlotinib resistance, using two pairs of TKI-sensitive or resistant cell lines, PC9 vs PC9/ER, and HCC827 vs HCC827/ER, as well as PC9/CD133+, which are lung cancer stem-like cells derived from PC9 cells.
In addition, the NF-κB inhibitor JSH-23 was used to detect the relationship between NF-κB and miR-223. miR-223 was upregulated in human lung cancer A549 cells when compared with BEAS-2B cells.
Our study demonstrates for the first time that platelet-secreted miR-223 via P-MVs can promote lung cancer cell invasion via targeting tumor suppressor EPB41L3.
These include miR-301, miR-183/96/182, miR-126, and miR-223, which are microRNAs deregulated in other tumor types as well; and other miRNAs, such as miR-374 and miR-210, not previously reported in association with lung cancer.