New mechanisms of lung cancer invasion and metastasis have been discovered in animal experiments

  Lung cancer is a common malignant tumor. With the increasing influence of smoking and environmental factors, the incidence and mortality of lung cancer are rising rapidly. Lung cancer has become the first cause of death from malignant tumors in my country. Changes at the molecular level of tumor cells, such as chromosomal and genetic changes, have been considered to be the most important mechanism of malignant tumors. Searching for new lung cancer-related genes—oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes—has practical significance for in-depth study of the pathological mechanism of lung cancer occurrence and development, and discovery of new diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets.

  Under the leadership of researcher Cao Yi, the Molecular Pathology Group of Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Liu Minxia, Liang Yurong, Ding Xiaojie and others systematically studied the molecular pathological mechanisms of lung cancer occurrence and development. First, through cytogenetic studies, it was found that lung cancer cells were abnormal in the 12q13 region (Virchows Arch 2011, 458:561-569). Subsequently, the gene expression in the 12q13 region was screened, and it was found that the MCRS1 and RACGAP1 genes were abnormally highly expressed in non-small cell lung cancer, and that the abnormal expression of these two genes was related to the growth, cell cycle and apoptosis of lung cancer cells ( Genes Chromosomes Canc 2013, 52:305-315). On this basis, Liu Minxia and Zhou Kecheng from the molecular pathology group conducted a systematic study on the pathophysiological function and regulation mechanism of MCRS1. Its research revealed that the abnormal expression of MCRS1 can promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition and invasion of lung cancer cells; the expression level of MCRS1 is related to the metastasis status of patients' tumors and affects the metastasis of lung cancer cells in experimental animals; MCRS1 binds to the miR-155 promoter to regulate its expression , And promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition, invasion and metastasis of lung cancer cells through miR-155. The study further found that miR-129* reversely regulates MCRS1 expression by binding to the 3'-UTR of MCRS1 mRNA.

  Tumor cell invasion and metastasis is one of the main characteristics of malignant tumors, and it seriously affects tumor prognosis and treatment. This research provides new ideas for elucidating the mechanism of malignant tumor invasion and metastasis, and provides potential new targets for the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.