MicroRNA-30e-5p suppresses non-small cell lung cancer tumorigenesis by regulating USP22-mediated Sirt1/JAK/STAT3 signaling

MicroRNA-30e-5p (miR-30e-5p) is a tumor suppressor that is known to be downregulated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, how miR-30e-5p inhibits NSCLC tumorigenesis is not known. Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 22 (USP22) is upregulated in NSCLC and promotes tumorigenesis via a Sirt1-JAK-STAT3 pathway. In this study, we investigated whether miR-30e-5p inhibits tumor growth by targeting USP22 in NSCLC. Our results reveal that miR-30e-5p expression was correlated negatively with USP22 in NSCLC tissues. Luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-30e-5p negatively regulated USP22 expression by binding to a specific sequence in the 3ʹUTR. MiR-30e-5p overexpression and USP22 knockdown significantly inhibited tumor growth in vivo and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in NSCLC cells in vitro. The effects of miR-30e-5p inhibition were prevented by USP22 knockdown. MiR-30e-5p inhibited SIRT1 expression and increased expression of p53 and the phosphorylated form of STAT3 (pSTAT3). Furthermore, miR-30e-5p prevented USP22-mediated regulation of SIRT1, pSTAT3, and p53 expression. Taken together, these findings suggest that miR-30e-5p suppresses NSCLC tumorigenesis by downregulatingUSP22-mediated Sirt1/JAK/STAT3 signaling. Our study has identified miR-30e-5p as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of NSCLC.