Abstract: Objective To investigate the molecular mechanism of miR-572 targeting WW domain containing oxidoreductase(WWOX) in regulating the proliferation and apoptosis of lung cancer cells. Methods A total of 50 cases of lung cancer tissues and their corre-sponding adjacent tissues of lung cancer patients who underwent surgical resection in Taihe Hospital of Shiyan Gity from March 2016 to May 2018 were collected. miR-572 inhibitor and miR-572 mimics were transfected into lung cancer A549 and L9981 cells by using liposome transfection technology. The expressions of miR-572 and WWOX mRNA were determined by qRT-PCR, the cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay, and the cell cycle and apoptosis were measured by flow cytometry. Targetscan was used to analyze the target genes of miR-572, the luciferase reporter gene experiment confirmed the targeting relationship between miR-572 and WWOX. Results miR-572 was highly expressed in lung cancer tissues and cells ( all P<0.05). After down-regulating miR-572, the proliferation ability of lung cancer A549 and L9981 cells decreased(all P<0.05), but the cell G0/G1 phase ratio and apoptosis rate increased(all P<0.05). However, after up-regulating miR-572, the proliferation ability of miR-572 in lung cancer A549 and L9981 cells increased (all P<0.05), while the cell G0/G1 phase ratio and apoptosis rate of cells decreased(all P<0.05). WWOX was low expressed in lung cancer tissues and cells( all P<0.05), and it was negatively correlated with the expression of miR-572 in lung cancer tissues(r=-0.669, P<0.001). Down-regulating the expression of WWOX could reverse the effect of miR-572 on lung cancer cell proliferation inhibition, cycle arrest and apoptosis promotion. Conclusion Down-regulation of miR-572 can inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of lung cancer cells, probably through targeting negative regulation of WWOX.

Key words: Lung cancer, Proliferation, Apoptosis, miR-572, WW domain containing oxidoreductase