Aim: We aimed to investigate the clinical significance and biological function of miR-203a-3p in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: The association between miR-203a-3p expression and clinicopathological parameters in NSCLC was assessed by χ2 test. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression model were applied to evaluate the prognosis value of miR-203a-3p. The biological function of miR-203-3p was explored using CCK-8 and transwell assays. Results: Significantly downregulated miR-203a-3p was associated with TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis. AVL9 was identified as a direct target of miR-203a-3p. Functionally, we found overexpression of miR-203a-3p inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion in NSCLC cells by targeting AVL9. Conclusion: Collectively, targeting the miR-203a-3p/AVL9 axis might help to develop useful therapeutic target for NSCLC.
Keywords: AVL9; invasion; miR-203a-3p; migration; non-small-cell lung cancer; prognosis; proliferation.