Cepharanthine promotes A549 cell apoptosis by regulating miR-150 and miR-182

AIM: To investigate the effect of cepharanthine on the growth of human lung carcinoma A549 cells and the underlying mechanism. METHODS: After A549 cells were treated with cepharanthine, the growth inhibitory rate was detected by MTT assay. The cell morphological changes were observed under light microscope. The apoptosis of the A549 cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. The expression of microRNA (miR)-150, miR-182, p53 mRNA and FOXO1 mRNA were detected by real-time PCR. The downstream target genes were predicted by software, and the expression of p53 and FOXO1 was determined by Western blot. RESULTS: After cepharanthine treatment, the growth of A549 cells was inhibited, the apoptosis rate was significantly increased, and the expression levels of miR-150 and miR-182 were significantly decreased. With cepharanthine treatment at 10 μmol/L, the expression levels of p53 and FOXO1 were elevated; however, with cepharanthine at 30 μmol/L, the expression levels of p53 and FOXO1 were decreased. After transfection with miR-150, the expression of p53 was significantly decreased, while the expression of FOXO1 was significantly decreased after transfection with miR-182. CONCLUSION: Cepharanthine inhibits the growth of A549 cells and promotes the apoptosis of A549 cells by inhibiting the expression of miR-150 and miR-182. miR-150 and miR-182 may down-regulate the expression of p53 and FOXO1, respectively.