MicroRNA-214-3p inhibits the stem-like properties of lung squamous cell cancer by targeting YAP1

BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence reveals that microRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in tumor progression, but the underlying mechanism of microRNAs in lung squamous cell cancer (LSCC) remains unclear. METHOD: Western-blotting and quantitative real-time PCR (q-PCR) were carried out to detect mRNA and protein expression. Cell proliferation was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), colony-forming assay or sphere-forming assay, respectively. RESULTS: MiR-214-3p was markedly de-regulated in LSCC tissues and was inversely related to the level of Yes-associated protein1 (YAP1), which is the core transcription regulator of the Hippo signaling pathway. Kaplan–Meier survival curves illustrated that patients with high miR-214-3p expression demonstrated more favorable clinical outcomes. MiR-214-3p overexpression (OE) repressed proliferation and cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) properties in vitro and in vivo xenograft mouse model. Mechanistically, luciferase activity assay revealed that miR-214-3p directly targets YAP1 by specifically binding on the 3′ UTR of YAP1. CONCLUSION: MiR-214-3p plays a pivotal role in CSCs properties by targeting YAP1, which provides a potential treatment strategy for LSCC patients.