Estrogen receptor β promotes the vasculogenic mimicry (VM) and cell invasion via altering the lncRNA-MALAT1/miR-145-5p/NEDD9 signals in lung cancer

While estrogen receptor beta (ER beta) may impact the progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), its linkage to alteration of the vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formation to influence the NSCLC cell invasion remains unclear. Here, we analyzed immunohistochemistry data from NSCLC tissues and found that ER beta-positive NSCLC female patients had worse survival outcomes than those of ER beta-negative NSCLC female patients. In vitro studies using multiple NSCLC cell lines also revealed that ER beta could increase the VM formation and cell invasion. Molecular mechanism dissection suggested that ER beta could increase the lncRNA-MALAT1 (MALAT1) expression via directly binding to the estrogen response elements (EREs) located on the promoter of MALAT1, which could then lead to (i) suppressing the miR145-5p and (ii) increasing the NEDD9 protein expression as miR145-5p can directly target the 3'-UTR of NEDD9-mRNA. A preclinical study using the in vivo mouse model further confirmed the in vitro cell lines data. Together, results from the above studies demonstrated that ER beta can promote NSCLC VM formation and cell invasion via altering the ER beta/MALAT1/miR145-5p/NEDD9 signaling. Targeting this newly identified signaling pathway with small molecules may help the development of novel therapies to better suppress the NSCLC metastasis.