Up-regulation of VANGL1 by IGF2BPs and miR-29b-3p attenuates the detrimental effect of irradiation on lung adenocarcinoma

Accumulating evidence suggests that radiation treatment causes an adaptive response of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), which in turn attenuates the lethal effect of the irradiation. Previous microarray assays manifested the change of gene expression profile after irradiation. Bioinformatics analysis of the significantly changed genes revealed that VANGL1 may notably influence the effect of radiation on LUAD. To determine the role of VANGL1, this study knocked down or overexpressed VANGL1 in LUAD. M6A level of VANGL1 mRNA was determined by M6A-IP-qPCR assay. Irradiation caused the up-regulation of VANGL1 with the increase of VANGL1 m6A level. Depletion of m6A readers, IGF2BP2/3, undermined VANGL1 mRNA stability and expression upon irradiation. miR-29b-3p expression was decreased by irradiation, however VANGL1 is a target of miR-29b-3p which was identified by Luciferase report assay. The reduction of miR-29b-3p inhibited the degradation of VANGL1 mRNA. Knockdown of VANGL1 enhanced the detrimental effect of irradiation on LUAD, as indicated by more severe DNA damage and increased percentage of apoptotic cells. Immunocoprecipitation revealed the interaction between VANGL1 with BRAF. VANGL1 increased BRAF probably through suppressing the protein degradation, which led to the increase of BRAF downstream effectors, TP53BP1 and RAD51. These effectors are involved in DNA repair after the damage. In summary, irradiation caused the up-regulation of VANGL1, which, in turn, mitigated the detrimental effect of irradiation on LUAD by protecting DNA from damage probably through activating BRAF/TP53BP1/RAD51 cascades. Increased m6A level of VANGL1 and reduced miR-29b-3p took the responsibility of VANGL1 overexpression upon irradiation.