MicroRNA-119 Inhibitor-Loaded Nanoparticles Improve Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Suppress Metastasis Through Up-Regulation of Autophagy-Related Proteins

Abstract

To explore the impact of targeted nanoparticles in progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we analyzed the interaction between MicroRNA-119 and autophagy-related (ATG) proteins. RT-qPCR was used to determine the expression of MicroRNA-119 and ATG in the normal lung tissues and NSCLC tissues. The expression of MicroRNA-119 and ATG in the low-metastatic and high-metastatic NSCLC cells, and normal cells were also measured. The high-metastatic NSCLC cells were transfected with siRNA-NC and miR-NC, or treated with MicroRNA-119-inhibitor-loaded nanoparticles. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were then assessed by flow cytometry, and invasion was evaluated by transwell assay. Upon treatment with oriented nanoparticles, the ATG expression was increased in NSCLC tissues and cells and MicroRNA-119 was down-regulated. Moreover, NM staging was positively related to ATG expression and negatively related to MicroRNA-119 expression. Of note was that, the composite nanoparticles carrying MicroRNA-119 inhibitor decreased cancer cell proliferation and invasion, reducing ATG expression. Treatment with oriented nanoparticles decreased proliferation, invasion, and metastasis ability of cells, and down-regulated the level of ATG in metastatic cells. Nanomaterials are characterized by large surface area and high degree of dispersion, high affinity and adhesion towards targets. In this study, our results demonstrated that the nanoparticles modified with MicroRNA-119-inhibitor effectively decreased the expression of MicroRNA-119 and increased expression of ATG, to suppress cell invasion. These evidences may provide a novel insight into targeted therapy for NSCLC.