MiR-26a functions as a tumor suppressor in ambient particulate matter-bound metal-triggered lung cancer cell metastasis by targeting LIN28B–IL6–STAT3 axis

Exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) has been linked to the increasing incidence and mortality of lung cancer, but the principal toxic components and molecular mechanism remain to be further elucidated. In this study, human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells were treated with serial concentrations of water-extracted PM 10 (WE-PM 10 ) collected from Beijing, China. Our results showed that exposure to 25 and 50 μg/ml of WE-PM 10 for 48 h significantly suppressed miR-26a to upregulate lin-28 homolog B (LIN28B), and in turn activated interleukin 6 (IL6) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in A549 cells, subsequently contributing to enhanced epithelial–mesenchymal transition and accelerated migration and invasion. In vivo pulmonary colonization assay further indicated that WE-PM 10 enhanced the metastatic ability of A549 cells. In addition, luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that 3′ untranslated region of LIN28B was a direct target of miR-26a. Last but not the least, the key toxic contribution of metals in WE-PM 10 was confirmed by the finding that removal of metals through chelation significantly rescued WE-PM 10 -mediated inflammatory, carcinogenic and metastatic responses. Taken together, miR-26a could act as the tumor suppressor in PM 10 -related lung cancer, and PM 10 -bound metals promoted lung cancer cell metastasis through downregulation of miR-26a that directly mediated LIN28B expression.