Identification of Tumor Suppressive miR-144-5p Targets: FAM111B Expression Accelerates the Malignant Phenotypes of Lung Adenocarcinoma

Accumulating evidence suggests that the passenger strands microRNAs (miRNAs) derived from pre-miRNAs are closely involved in cancer pathogenesis. Analysis of our miRNA expression signature of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data revealed that (the passenger strand derived from pre- ) was significantly downregulated in LUAD tissues. The aim of this study was to identify therapeutic target molecules controlled by in LUAD cells. Ectopic expression assays demonstrated that attenuated LUAD cell aggressiveness, e.g., inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion abilities, and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cells. A total of 18 genes were identified as putative cancer-promoting genes controlled by in LUAD cells based on our in silico analysis. We focused on a family with sequence similarity 111 member B ( ) and investigated its cancer-promoting functions in LUAD cells. Luciferase reporter assay showed that expression of was directly regulated by in LUAD cells. knockdown assays showed that LUAD cells significantly suppressed malignant phenotypes, e.g., inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion abilities, and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cells. Furthermore, we investigated the -mediated molecular networks in LUAD cells. Identifying target genes regulated by passenger strands of miRNAs may aid in the discovery of diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for LUAD.