Lin28A promotes the proliferation and stemness of lung cancer cells via the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway dependent on microRNA let-7c

BACKGROUND: Among patients with lung cancer, metastatic and relapsed cases account for the largest proportion of disease-associated deaths. Tumor metastasis and relapse are believed to originate from cancer stem cells (CSCs), which have the capacity to be highly proliferative and invasive. In our previous studies, we established a conditional basement membrane extract-based (BME-based) 3-dimensional (3D) culture system to mimic the tumor growth environment in vivo and further amplified lung cancer stem cells (LCSCs) in our system. However, the molecular mechanisms of LCSC amplification and development in our 3D culture system have not been fully uncovered. METHOD: We established the conditional 3D culture system to amplify LCSCs in other lung cancer cell lines, followed by examining the expression of Lin28A and let-7 microRNAs in them. We also explored the expression of Lin28A and let-7 microRNAs in LCSCs from clinical lung cancer tissue samples and even analyzed the correlation of Lin28A/let-7c and patients’ survival outcomes. We further constructed A549 cells either knockdown of Lin28A or overexpression of let-7c, followed by investigating stemness marker gene expression, and stemness phenotypes including mammosphere culture, cell migration and invasion in vitro, as well as tumorigenicity in vivo. RESULTS: Here, we observed that Lin28A/let-7c was dysregulated in LCSCs in both the 3D culture system and lung cancer tissues. Further, the abnormal expression of Lin28A/let-7c was correlated with poor survival outcomes. Via the construction of A549 cells with let-7c over-expression, we found that let-7c inhibited the maintenance of LCSC properties, while the results of Lin28A knockdown showed that Lin28A played a critical role in the enrichment and proliferation of LCSCs via mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Importantly, we found that LCSCs with knockdown of Lin28A or over-expression of let-7c exhibited inhibited carcinogenesis and disrupted expansion in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Our study uncovered the functions and mechanisms of the Lin28A/let-7c/MAPK signaling pathway in promoting the proliferation and cancer stemness of LCSCs, which might be a potential therapeutic target for reducing and even eliminating LCSCs in the future.