RETRACTED: MicroRNA-629 inhibition suppresses the viability and invasion of non-small cell lung cancer cells by directly targeting RUNX3 (Retracted article. See vol. 27, 2023)

Dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) directly modulate the biological functions of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and contribute to the initiation and progression of NSCLC; however, the specific roles and underlying mechanisms of the dysregulated miRNAs in NSCLC require further investigation. The present study reported that miRNA-629-5p (miR-629) was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. High miR-629 expression levels were significantly associated with tumour size, clinical stage and lymph node metastasis in patients with NSCLC. Functional experiments indicated that miR-629 inhibition suppressed the viability and invasion NSCLC cells in vitro. Furthermore, bioinformatics prediction, luciferase reporter assay, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis demonstrated that runt-related transcription factor 3 (RUNX3) was a direct target gene of miR-629 in NSCLC. Restoration of RUNX3 expression suppressed the effects of miR-629 inhibition in NSCLC cells. Rescue experiments revealed that RUNX3 knockdown partially abrogated the effects of miR-629 inhibition on NSCLC cells. In summary, miR-629 directly targeted RUNX3 to inhibit the progression of NSCLC, suggesting that this miRNA may be considered as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for patients with NSCLC.