miR-367 promotes the proliferation and invasion of non-small cell lung cancer via targeting FBXW7.

The involvement of miR-367 in lung cancer development remains unclear. In the present study, we analyzed the expression of miR-367 in tumor and adjacent tissue samples from 113 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) utilizing real-time PCR. miR-367 expression was significantly upregulated in the cancer tissues compared with non-cancer controls. Based on the median value of the miR-367 expression level, we divided the NSCLC patients into miR-367 high-expression and miR-367 low-expression groups. Overexpression of miR-367 was correlated with a poorer prognosis of NSCLC patients Chi-square (χ2) test showed a significant statistical correlation between tumor size, tumor stage, metastasis and miR-367 expression. Additionally, miR-367 expression was found to be negatively correlated with FBXW7 expression. Based on the above correlations, we performed a series of functional experiments to further confirm the effect of miR-367 on NSCLC. Our results indicated that miR-367 may be involved in the development and progression of NSCLC by promoting proliferation and invasion and impeding apoptosis in NSCLC cells. Furthermore, FBXW7 was identified as a potential target of miR-367, and FBXW7 silencing partially compromised the invasive, proliferative and migratory capacities in the cells with low miR-367 expression. Thus, the miR-367/FBXW7 axis may be involved in the development and progression of NSCLC and may be valuable as a therapeutic target for the treatment of human NSCLC, especially cancers with high invasive potential.