Midazolam increases cisplatin-sensitivity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) via the miR-194-5p/HOOK3 axis

Tingting Sun; Jing Chen; Xuechao Sun; Guonian Wang

doi:10.1186/s12935-021-02104-6

Midazolam increases cisplatin-sensitivity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) via the miR-194-5p/HOOK3 axis

Cancer Cell Int. 2021 Jul 28;21(1):401. doi: 10.1186/s12935-021-02104-6.

Authors

Tingting Sun¹, Jing Chen¹, Xuechao Sun¹, Guonian Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesiology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Haping Road No. 150, Harbin, 150081, Heilongjiang, China.
² Institute of Pain, Harbin Medical University Sino-Russian Research Center, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Yinhang Street No. 31, Harbin, 150001, Heilongjiang, China. 201503099@hrbmu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Backgrounds: As previously reported, midazolam anesthesia exerts tumor-suppressing effects in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but the regulating effects of this drug on cisplatin-resistance in NSCLC have not been studied. Thus, we designed this study to investigate this issue and preliminarily delineate the potential molecular mechanisms.

Methods: We performed MTT assay and trypan blue staining assay to measure cell proliferation and viability. Cell apoptosis was examined by FCM. qRT-PCR and immunoblotting were performed to determine the expression levels of genes. The targeting sites between genes were predicted by bioinformatics analysis and were validated by dual-luciferase reporter gene system assay. Mice tumor-bearing models were established and the tumorigenesis was evaluated by measuring tumor weight and volume. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to examine the pro-proliferative Ki67 protein expressions in mice tumor tissues.

Results: The cisplatin-resistant NSCLC (CR-NSCLC) cells were treated with high-dose cisplatin (50 μg/ml) and low-dose midazolam (10 μg/ml), and the results showed that midazolam suppressed cell proliferation and viability, and promoted cell apoptosis in cisplatin-treated CR-NSCLC cells. In addition, midazolam enhanced cisplatin-sensitivity in CR-NSCLC cell via modulating the miR-194-5p/hook microtubule-tethering protein 3 (HOOK3) axis. Specifically, midazolam upregulated miR-194-5p, but downregulated HOOK3 in the CR-NSCLC cells, and further results validated that miR-194-5p bound to the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of HOOK3 mRNA for its inhibition. Also, midazolam downregulated HOOK3 in CR-NSCLC cells by upregulating miR-194-5p. Functional experiments validated that both miR-194-5p downregulation and HOOK3 upregulation abrogated the promoting effects of midazolam on cisplatin-sensitivity in CR-NSCLC cells.

Conclusions: Taken together, this study found that midazolam anesthesia reduced cisplatin-resistance in CR-NSCLC cells by regulating the miR-194-5p/HOOK3 axis, implying that midazolam could be used as adjuvant drug for NSCLC treatment in clinical practices.

Keywords: Cisplatin-resistance; HOOK3; Midazolam; Non-small cell lung cancer; miR-194-5p.