Medium with 10% FBS was added to the lower chambers as a chemoattractant. After 24 h of incubation, cells that invaded through the membrane

filter were fixed and stained with H&E. The number of invading cells was counted under fluorescence microscope in five random high power fields. Statistical analysis All experiments were repeated independently a minimum of three times, and the results were expressed as the mean values ± standard deviation. The differences between groups were analyzed by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. A value of p < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. AZD1390 clinical trial Results MTA1 knockdown leads to the upregulation of miR-125b level in NSCLC cells First we established 95D and SPC-A-1 cell lines with stable knockdown of MTA1 by transfecting the cells with MTA1 shRNA. The knockdown efficiency was confirmed by qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Compared to the control cell lines, the expression of MTA1 mRNA and protein was significantly reduced in 95D and SPC-A-1 cells transfected with pLVTHM-MTA1-si plasmid (Figure  1A, B). Figure 1 MTA1 knockdown

leads to the upregulation of miR-125b level in NSCLC cells. A. Quantification of MTA1 mRNA level by quantitative RT-PCR in 95D and SPC-A-1 cells untransfected, transfected with MTA1 shRNA or control shRNA. B. Western blot analysis of MTA1 protein level in 95D and SPC-A-1 Selleckchem BLZ945 cells untransfected, transfected with MTA1 shRNA or control shRNA. B-actin was loading control. C. Quantification of miR-125b level by quantitative RT-PCR in 95D and SPC-A-1 cells transfected with MTA1 shRNA or control shRNA. D. Quantification of miR-125b level by quantitative RT-PCR in 95D and SPC-A-1 cells transfected with MTA1 shRNA or control shRNA, together with miR-125b inhibitor or control. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01

compared to the controls. Next we detected miR-125b level in the established cell lines. The results showed that miR-125b level was 2.75 and 1.67-fold higher in 95D/MTA1-si and SPC-A-1/MTA1-si cells, compared to the control 95D and SPC-A-1 cells, respectively (Figure  1C). To confirm the negative correlation between MTA1 and miR-125b in NSCLC cells, we transfected miR-125b-inhibitor or nonspecific control miRNA (NC) RANTES into 95D and SPC-A-1 cells. qRT-PCR analysis showed that miR-125b-inhibitor decreased the expression of miR-125b in 95D/CTL-si and SPC-A-1/CTL-si cells only by 30 percent, but it significantly reduced miR-125b expression in 95D/MTA1-si and SPC-A-1/MTA1-si cells (Figure  1D). These data suggest that MTA1 knockdown leads to the upregulation of miR-125b level in NSCLC cells. MTA1 and miR-125b have antagonistic effects on the migration and invasion of NSCLC cells Next we investigated the antagonistic effects of MTA1 and MiR-125b on the migration and invasion of NSCLC cells. Wound healing assay showed that in 95D cells, knockdown of MTA1 led to reduced cell migration.