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Non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for approximately 80% of lung cancer cases. TBC1D23, a member of the TBC/RABGAP family, is widely expressed in human tissues; however, its role in NSCLC is currently unknown. Immunohistochemical analysis was conducted on 173 paraffin‐embedded lung tissue sections from patients with NSCLC from 2014 to 2018 at the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. MTT, colony formation assay, cell cycle assay, scratch assay, transwell assay, Western blotting and real‐time PCR were employed on multiple NSCLC cell lines modified to knock down or overexpress TBC1D23/RAB11A. Immunoprecipitation, immunoprecipitation‐mass spectrometry, immunofluorescence and flow cytometry were performed to explore the interaction between TBC1D23 and RAB11A and TBC1D23 involvement in the interaction between RAB11A and β1 integrin in the para‐nucleus. TBC1D23 was correlated with tumour size, differentiation degree, metastasis, TNM stage and poor prognosis. TBC1D23 was involved in the interaction between RAB11A and β1 integrin in the para‐nucleus, thus activating the β1 integrin/FAK/ERK signalling pathway to promote NSCLC. Furthermore, TBC1D23 promoted NSCLC progression by inducing cell proliferation, migration and invasion. This study indicated the relationship between TBC1D23 expression and the adverse clinicopathological characteristics of patients with NSCLC, suggesting that TBC1D23 may be an important target for NSCLC treatment.

Background The expression of Kelch-like protein 18 (KLHL18) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is lower than that in normal lung tissue according to the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis database. KLHL18 is a BTB domain protein and binds cullin 3 (CUL3). However, whether this complex participates in ubiquitination-mediated protein degradation in NSCLC is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role of KLHL18 in human NSCLC cells. Results We found that KLHL18 is downregulated in cancer cells and is associated with poor prognosis. Further, its expression was significantly associated with tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage, lymph node metastasis, and tumor size. In vitro analysis of NSCLC cells showed that overexpressing KLHL18 inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. We found that the tumor-inhibitory effect of the KLHL18 protein was achieved by promoting the ubiquitination and degradation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) p85α and inhibiting the expression of PD-L1 protein, ultimately preventing tumor cell immune escape. Conclusions Our results identified the tumor-suppressive mechanism of KLHL18 and suggested that it is closely related to NSCLC occurrence and development. Further investigation of the underlying mechanism may provide new targets for NSCLC treatment.

Tripartite motif-containing 67 (TRIM67), an E3 ubiquitin ligase, belongs to the TRIM protein family. The relationship between TRIM67 and tumorigenesis is not fully clear. Here, we elucidated TRIM67 function in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). TRIM67 immunostaining results were correlated with clinicopathological features. Moreover, the function of TRIM67 in cultured NSCLC cells was evaluated by MTT, colony formation, and Transwell assays. TRIM67 expression was associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, p-TNM stage, cancer cell differentiation, and poor prognosis. We altered TRIM67 expression in A549 and H1299 cell lines, and the results showed that TRIM67 promoted cell proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT by positively regulating the Notch pathway. Collectively, the results showed that TRIM67 promotes NSCLC progression through the Notch pathway and that TRIM67 expression is associated with clinicopathological features, indicating that TRIM67 may play an important role in promoting the development of NSCLC and could be applied as not only an important prognostic biomarker but also a therapeutic target in NSCLC.

Background Studies have shown that E3 ubiquitin ligase CBLL1 plays multiple roles in development and tumorigenesis. CBLL1 is over-expressed in colon cancer and associated with cancer cell proliferation. While, the overexpression of CBLL1 inhibited the estrogenic dependent cell proliferation and migration in ER alpha dependent breast cancer cell MCF-7. Methods We used an immunohistochemical method to detect CBLL1 expression in human NSCLC and corresponding normal lung tissues and analyzed its relationship with clinicopathological parameters. Moreover, we investigated the role of CBLL1 in NSCLC cell behavior by inhibiting its expression in A549 and H1299 cells. Results In this study, we found that CBLL1 was frequently upregulated in non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues compared to the adjacent nontumor tissues. We found that the high expression of CBLL1 was associated with the tumor size in NSCLC tissues. It has been recently reported that CBLL1 promotes cell proliferation and invasion in A549 and H460 cells. Our results confirmed that CBLL1 promoted the proliferation by promoting G1/S cell cycle transition in NSCLCs cells. Moreover, CBLL1 knockdown inhibited cell invasion via increased E-cadherin protein expression, and decreased expression of MMP2 and MMP9 in NSCLC cell lines. The protein expression of E-cadherin was increased after CBLL1 depletion while the E-cadherin mRNA was not affected after knockdown of the endogenous CBLL1. Conclusion These results provide important insights for using CBLL1 as an oncogenic marker gene in the development and progression of non-small cell lung cancer.

In a meta-analysis, the long noncoding RNA cancer susceptibility candidate 8 (CASC8) was found to be a cancer susceptibility gene closely related to lung cancer, but its functions in lung cancer are unknown. In the Cancer Genome Atlas database, the expression of CASC8 was significantly higher in non-small cell lung cancer than in adjacent normal tissues, and high expression of CASC8 was associated with poor prognosis in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Silencing CASC8 inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Silencing CASC8 also promoted sensitivity to osimertinib through Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1). Therefore, this pathway can be exploited in patients with lung cancer resistant to targeted therapies. Our study revealed for the first time that silencing CASC8 inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of non-small cell lung cancer cells and promoted their sensitivity to osimertinib, suggesting that CASC8 is closely related to the occurrence and development of non-small cell lung cancer. This may provide insight into mechanisms of treatment for non-small cell lung cancer.

Background Makorin RING zinc finger-2 (MKRN2) belongs to the makorin RING zinc finger family and is a novel ubiquitin E3 ligase targeting the p65 subunit of NF-κB to negatively regulate inflammatory responses; however, the relationship between MKRN2 and tumorigenesis remains unclear. In this study, we clarified the role of MKRN2 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Tumor specimens collected from 261 NSCLC patients from 2013 to 2017 were retrieved from the Pathology Archive of the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, and we performed assays to evaluate MKRN2 expression and to determine the impact of MKRN2 silencing and overexpression on NSCLC-cell migration and invasion. Results We demonstrated that MKRN2 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis, p-TNM stage, cancer-cell differentiation, and poor prognosis. By altering the expression of MKRN2 in selected cell lines, we found that MKRN2 inhibited cell migration and invasion through downregulation of the PI3K/Akt pathway. Conclusions These results suggested that MKRN2 inhibited NSCLC progression by reducing the metastatic potential of cancer cells. Our findings provide critical insight into the association of MKRN2 expression with favorable clinicopathological characteristics in NSCLC patients and suggested that MKRN2 plays a role in inhibiting NSCLC development.

The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) MIR503HG has been shown to play an important role in cancer development. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential roles of MIR503HG in the proliferation and apoptosis of non-small cell lung cancer cell (NSCLC). We used short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against MIR503HG to knock down and vector containing full length of MIR503HG to overexpress MIR503HG in NSCLC cells. The expression of MIR503HG in NSCLC tissues and cells was detected and the effects of MIR503HG on the cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined. Results showed that the expression of MIR503HG was significantly upregulated in NSCLC tissues compared with adjacent tissues. We found that downregulation of MIR503HG could clearly suppressed cell proliferation and cell cycle progression. Moreover, MIR503HG knockdown also promoted apoptosis of NSCLC cells. As expected, overexpression of MIR503HG significantly promoted cell proliferation and inhibited cell apoptosis in NSCLC NCI-H1975 cells. We predicted and verified miR-489-3p and miR-625-5p as the direct targets of MIR503HG by bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay. Mechanically, MIR503HG negatively regulated miR-489-3p and miR-625-5p expressions in NSCLC cells. Moreover, downregulation of miR-489-3p and miR-625-5p weaken the decreased cell proliferation and increased apoptosis of A549 cells after MIR503HG knocking down. In conclusion, knockdown of MIR503HG suppressed proliferation and promoted apoptosis of NSCLC cells through regulating miR-489-3p and miR-625-5p. Our findings of this study suggested that MIR503HG could be a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC development.

Background Damage-regulated autophagy modulator 2(DRAM2) is associated with autophagy processes. However, the role of DRAM2 in the progression of human neoplasms is still unknown. Here, we show that DRAM2 may act as an oncogenic regulator in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Tumor specimens from 259 NSCLC patients were collected and analyzed. Transwell migration, cell cycle analysis, MTT and colony formation assays were performed to determine the effect of DRAM2 overexpression and knockdown on NSCLC-cell migration and proliferation. Western blotting confirmed the expression of DRAM2, p53, and the other involved proteins. Results DRAM2 was preferentially upregulated in NSCLC tissues and higher expression of DRAM2 in NSCLC correlated with tumor node metastases stage and lymph node metastasis. Additionally, DRAM2 overexpression promoted cell metastasis and proliferation in vitro, while knockdown of DRAM2 expression yielded opposite result. Furthermore, DRAM2 overexpression increased the expression of proteins RAC1, RHOA, RHOC, ROCK1, and decreased RHOB expression, all of which are cell migration factors. DRAM2 overexpression also increased proteins CDK4, CyclinD3, and decreased p27 expression, all of which are cell cycle-related factors. Consistently knocked down DRAM2 had the opposite effect. We also found that DRAM2 expression was negatively correlated to p53 expression. Knockdown of DRAM2 caused an increase of p53 and p21 expression, and overexpression of p53 caused a decrease of DRAM2 expression. Finally, absence of p53 did not influence the function of DRAM2 in NSCLC, but overexpression of p53 repressed its function. Conclusions DRAM2 plays an oncogenic role in NSCLC via regulating p53 expression. Therefore, DRAM2 may act as an oncogene in NSCLC and could serve as a prognostic factor and potential target for NSCLC treatment.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Previous studies have shown that the novel KIAA0247 gene potentially targeted by the tumor suppressor p53 may inhibit the development of several cancers. However, the exact function of KIAA0247 in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unknown. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the role of KIAA0247 in NSCLC. KIAA0247 expression was evaluated in tumors and adjacent normal tissues of 197 NSCLC patients by immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR and analyzed for association with clinicopathological parameters. Results indicated that KIAA0247 levels positively correlated with cell differentiation (P < .001) and patient survival (P < .0001) and negatively correlated with lymph node metastasis (P < .001) and advanced p-TNM stage (P < .001). In cultured NSCLC cell lines, KIAA0247 overexpression inhibited cell migration, invasion, and proliferation and downregulated the expression of Jagged1, Notch1 intracellular domain (NICD), Snail, cyclin D1, RhoA, RhoC, and MMP9, while upregulating that of E-cadherin and p21. The Notch inhibitor DAPT reduced the biological effects of KIAA0247 knockdown, suggesting that KIAA0247 decreased the carcinogenic activity of NSCLC cells through downregulation of Notch signaling. Our results indicate that KIAA0247 inhibits NSCLC progression by reducing the metastatic potential of cancer cells through downregulation of the Notch pathway, which may underlie the association of KIAA0247 expression with favorable clinicopathological characteristics of NSCLC patients. These findings suggest that KIAA0247 is a candidate prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target in NSCLC.