miR-544a promotes the invasion of lung cancer cells by targeting cadherina 1 in vitro.

Objective: To find out the effect of miR-544a on the invasion of lung cancer cells and to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Methods: Micro-ribonucleic acid (miRNA) expression in two different invasive lung cancer cell lines 95C (low invasive ability) and 95D (high invasive ability) was analyzed by miRNA microarray and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR); miR-544a mimic was transfected to 95C, and its invasion ability was detected by transwell migration assay; we predicted the candidate miRNA target genes by TargetScan (Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA, USA) software and verified the target genes by Western blot.

Results: The expression of miR-544a was significantly increased in 95D in miRNA microarray and quantitative PCR tests (P<0.05). After being transfected with miR-544a mimic, the invasion ability of 95C was enhanced (P<0.01). Moreover, transfection with miR-544a inhibitor decreased the invasion ability of 95D (P<0.01). miR-544a possibly combined with CDH1 (E-cadherin) predicted by the TargetScan analysis. 95C with miR-544a mimic reduced the expression of CDH1 and improved the expression of vimentin, while 95D with miR-544a inhibitor improved the expression of CDH1 and reduced the expression of vimentin.

Conclusions: miR-544a can promote the invasion of non-small cell lung cancer by downregulation of CDH1 and upregulation of vimentin.