MicroRNA‑629 inhibition suppresses the viability and invasion of non‑small cell lung cancer cells by directly targeting RUNX3

Dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) directly modulate the biological functions of non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and contribute to the initiation and progression of NSCLC; however, the specific roles and underlying mechanisms of the dysregulated miRNAs in NSCLC require further investigation. The present study reported that miRNA‑629‑5p (miR‑629) was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. High miR‑629 expression levels were significantly associated with tumour size, clinical stage and lymph node metastasis in patients with NSCLC. Functional experiments indicated that miR‑629 inhibition suppressed the viability and invasion NSCLC cells in vitro. Furthermore, bioinformatics prediction, luciferase reporter assay, reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis demonstrated that runt‑related transcription factor 3 (RUNX3) was a direct target gene of miR‑629 in NSCLC. Restoration of RUNX3 expression suppressed the effects of miR‑629 inhibition in NSCLC cells. Rescue experiments revealed that RUNX3 knockdown partially abrogated the effects of miR‑629 inhibition on NSCLC cells. In summary, miR‑629 directly targeted RUNX3 to inhibit the progression of NSCLC, suggesting that this miRNA may be considered as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for patients with NSCLC.