Reduction of microRNA-184 by E6 oncoprotein confers cisplatin resistance in lung cancer via increasing Bcl-2

MicroRNA-184 suppresses cell growth and survival via targeting c-Myc and Bcl- 2. We recently reported that miR-184 promotes tumor progression in non-small cell lung cancer via targeting CDC25A and c-Myc. We here hypothesized that miR-184 could be down-regulated by E6 oncoprotein to confer cisplatin resistance in NSCLC. Human papillomavirus (HPV) 16-positive lung cancer TL-1 and cervical cancer SiHa cells compared with HPV16-negative TL-10 and C33A cells were enrolled for E6 manipulation. MiR-184 expression levels were increased by E6-knockdown in TL-1 and SiHa cells, but decreased by E6-overexpression in TL-10 and C33A cells. The MTT assay showed that the inhibition concentration of cisplatin yielding for 50% cell viability was dependent on miR-184 levels. Bcl-2 de-targeted by E6-mediated miR- 184 reduction was responsible for cisplatin resistance. Luciferase reporter assay and real- time PCR analysis indicated that the miR-184 promoter activity and its expression were modulated by E6 and/or p53 manipulation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay confirmed that p53 was bound onto the miR-184 promoter and its binding activity was modulated by E6 and/or p53 manipulation. Among patients, high miR184 and high Bcl-2 mRNA expression was more commonly occurred in E6- positive tumors than in E6-negative tumors. Fifty-nine out of 136 patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy were available for the retrospective study. Patients with low-mR-184, E6-positive, high-Bcl-2 tumors, and both combinations were more prevalently occurred unfavorable response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy than their counterparts. In conclusion, a decrease in miR-184 level by E6 oncoprotein may predict unfavorable response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy in HPV-infected NSCLC patients via increasing Bcl-2 expression.