miR-34a-5p might have an important role for inducing apoptosis by down-regulation of SNAI1 in apigenin-treated lung cancer cells.

Apigenin is a flavonoid with antioxidant and anticancer effects. It has been reported that apigenin inhibits proliferation, migration, and invasion and induces apoptosis in cultured lung cancer cells. However, there is little information on the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) in its effects. miRNA microarray analysis and polymerase-chain-reaction analysis of miRNAs revealed that treatment of human lung cancer A549 cells with apigenin up-regulated the level of miR-34a-5p. Furthermore, mRNA microarray analysis and the results of three microRNA target prediction tools showed that Snail Family Transcriptional Repressor 1 (SNAI1), which inhibits the induction of apoptosis, had its mRNA expression down-regulated in A549 cells treated with apigenin. Our findings suggest that apigenin might induce apoptosis by down-regulation of SNAI1 through up-regulation of miR-34a-5p in A549 cells.