Suppression of AKT expression by miR-153 produced anti-tumor activity in lung cancer

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. microRNAs have been shown to be a novel class of regulators in lung cancer. Here, we explored the role of miR-153 in the pathogenesis of lung cancer and its therapeutic potential. miR-153 was significantly decreased in lung cancer tissues than the adjacent tissues. The protein and mRNA levels of protein kinase B (AKT), which were shown to promote tumor growth, were both increased in lung cancer tissues than adjacent tissues. Overexpression of miR-153 significantly inhibited AKT protein expression, which were abrogated by co-transfection of AMO-153, the specific inhibitor of miR-153. Luciferase assay showed that transfection of miR-153 markedly suppressed the fluorescent intensity of chimeric vectors carrying the 3'UTR of AKT1, while produced no effect on the mutant construct, indicating that AKT is regulated by miR-153. Overexpression of miR-153 significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration, and promoted apoptosis of cultured lung cancer cells in vitro, and suppressed the growth of xenograft tumors in vivo. Interestingly, lung cancer cells with lower endogenous miR-153 expression are more sensitive to ectopic overexpressed miR-153. The IC50 of miR-153 on lung cancer cells is positive correlated with the endogenous miR-153 level, while negative correlated with AKT level. Knockdown of AKT expression suppressed lung cancer cell proliferation. In summary, miR-153 exerted anti-tumor activity in lung cancer by targeting on AKT. The sensitivity of lung cancer cells to miR-153 is determined by its endogenous miR-153 level. What's New? Lung cancer pathogenesis is influenced by a variety of factors, including the deregulation of certain microRNAs. This study identifies microRNA-153 (miR-153) as a novel player in lung cancer. MiR-153 expression was found to be decreased in lung cancer tissue, and when overexpressed exogenously, miR-153 inhibited AKT protein expression, blocked cell proliferation and migration, and promoted apoptosis. Lung cancer cells with low endogenous miR-153 levels displayed increased sensitivity to exogenous miR-153 overexpression. Experiments in vivo reveal that miR-153 overexpression suppresses tumor growth.