Depression Accelerates Tumor Cell Proliferation Via Regulating Serotonin/miR-144 Axis in NSCLC Mice

Non-small cell lung cancer is known as a malignant tumor with low survival rate and poor prognosis. Depression affects various diseases. However, the effect of depression on the progression of NSCLC remains unclear. In our current study, chronic mild stress (CMS) mice was used as depression animal model. Depression prompted the tumor progression in vivo analysis, including increasing tumor indexes and reducing survival rate. Serotonin secretion was observed to be remarkable elevation in both serum and tumor tissue, which was positively related with tumor progression. In vitro assays, serotonin promoted the proliferation of A549 cells. Additionally, we observed that miR-144 expression was significantly downregulated in serotonin stimulated group. Further loss-of- and gain-of-function assays verified that miR-144 was the downstream factor of serotonin underlying the condition of CMS. Taken together, our research indicated that CMS-induced serotonin secretion accelerates NSCLC proliferation via inhibiting miR-144 expression, suggesting the potential therapeutic direction in NSCLC patients.