The expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in the non-small cell lung cancer

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to investigate the expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as the effects of macrophage MIF on tumor cells. METHODS: The human NSCLC cell strains H358 and H524 were selected as research objects. The Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and Western Blot were utilized to detect the expression levels of MIF in human NSCLC cell strains. The lentiviral plasmid was utilized for MIF-mRNA interference. The expression levels of MIF before and after transfection were compared. The cell strains were cultured and proliferated for cell count and comparison. RESULTS: H358 showed MIF high expression while H524 showed MIF low expression. Once the H358 cells were constructed as silent MIF expression, compared with the original H358 cells, the difference was statistically significant. Once the H524 cells were constructed as high MIF expression, compared with original H524 cells, the difference was statistically significant. Being cultured for respective 3, 5, and 7 days, the transfected H358 cells showed a significant decrease in proliferative activity compared with original H358 cells, while the transfected H524 cells showed a significant increase in proliferative activity compared with original H524 cells. CONCLUSION: MIF has high expression in H358 cells while low expression in H524 cells. The expression of MIF could enhance the proliferative activity of NSCLC tumor cells.