Background/Aims: The transcription cofactor limb-bud and heart (LBH) is involved in embryonic development. However, its role in human lung cancer, especially lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), remains unclear. Methods: A public database and tissue microarray (TMA) were used to compare differences in LBH expression and its relationship with clinical characteristics. Tissue from an additional 70 LUAD patients with follow-up records was used to explore the correlation of LBH expression with prognosis. Cellular and molecular studies validated the role of LBH in LUAD growth and invasion. Results: LBH was significantly down-regulated in lung cancer tissue samples and was correlated with the prognosis and clinical characteristics of lung cancer patients based on a public database and TMA. Survival analysis revealed that LBH-negative expression was associated with poor overall survival of LUAD patients (P = 0.021). Cox regression analysis showed that LBH expression status was a favorable independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio = 0.120, 95% confidence interval = 0.016–0.894, P = 0.039). LBH knockdown accelerated LUAD cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, bioinformatics analysis indicated that LBH was significantly related to the cell adhesion pathway. Western blot analysis confirmed that LBH could regulate the expression of integrin family members (integrin-α1, integrin-α2, integrin-α4, integrin-αv, and integrin-β4). Conclusion: Our data suggest that LBH plays an important role in lung cancer. Importantly, LBH is an independent prognostic factor in LUAD and can attenuate cell growth and invasion. LBH may be a potential prognostic biomarker in LUAD patients.

Purpose: MicroRNAs are known to regulate cellular processes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and predict prognosis. However, identification of specific microRNAs in NSCLC as potential therapeutic targets is controversial. We aim to determine the clinical significance of miR-1323 in the prognosis of patients with lung cancer and the potential mechanism. Patients and methods: A bioinformatics approach was used to screen the importance microRNA in NSCLC through the online GEO database (GSE42425). The relationship between expression level of miR-1323 and overall survival of lung cancer patients was analyzed. Additionally, an independent corhort including 53 NSCLC cases that underwent resection validated the connection between miR-1323 and LUAD patients' overall survival. Next, the function of miR-1323 was studied in vitro by transient transfection. A more in-depth mechanism was studied through luciferase reporter gene experiments. Results: High miR-1323 expression correlated with poor survival in NSCLC patients ( P = 0.011), and in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients ( P = 0.015) based on GEO database (GSE42425). In the independent cohort based on our hospital, high miR-1323 expression was associated with LUAD patients ( P = 0.025). Moreover, transfection with mimics of miR-1323 showed an increased migratory capacity in LUAD A549 and HCC827 cells. In addition, E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase Casitas B-lineage Lymphoma-b (Cbl-b) was found to be the target genes of miR-1323 and significantly down regulated after mimics of miR-1323 transfection, and high Cbl-b expression predicted better prognosis in NSCLC and LUAD ( P = 0.00072 and P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusion: The miR-1323 promoted LUAD migration through inhibiting Cbl-b expression. High miR-1323 expression predicted poor prognosis in LUAD patients.