Epigenetic silencing of MicroRNA-503 regulates FANCA expression in non-small cell lung cancer cell

It is reported that MicroRNA-503 (miR-503) regulates cell apoptosis, and thus modulates the resistance of non-small cell lung cancer cells (NSCLC) to cisplatin. However, the exact role of miR-503 in NSCLC remains unknown. In the present study, the level of miR-503 expression in NSCLC was evaluated using realtime PCR, and the DNA methylation status within miR-503 promoter was analyzed by Combined Bisulfite Restriction Analysis (COBRA) or bisulfite-treated DNA sequencing assays (BSP). We found that the expression of miR-503 was significantly decreased in NSCLC tissues compared to normal tissues. A statistically significant inverse association was found between miR-503 methylation status and expression of the miR-503 in tumor tissues (P < 0.001), and expression of miR-503 was restored by the demethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, suggesting that methylation was associated with the transcriptional silencing. Then, we show that miR-503 targets a homologous DNA region in the 3′-UTR region of the Fanconi anemia complementation group A protein (FANCA) gene and represses its expression at the transcriptional level. Taken together, our results suggest that miR-503 regulates the resistance of non-small cell lung cancer cells to cisplatin at least in part by targeting FANCA.