To investigate the regulatory mechanism of plantamajoside (PMS) on the growth and metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

A549 cells were divided into control group (normal culture), model group (40 μg·mL^-1 PMS), NC inhibitor group (40 μg·mL^-1 PMS+NC inhibitor), miR-525-5p inhibitor group (40 μg·mL^-1 PMS+miR-525-5p inhibitor), sh-NC group (40 μg·mL^-1 PMS+miR-525-5p inhibitor+sh-NC) and sh-ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2C (UBE2C) group (40 μg·mL^-1 PMS+miR-525-5p inhibitor+sh-UBE2C). Transwell assay was used to evaluate the invasion ability of A549 cells after different treatments. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay was used to evaluate the apoptosis of A549 cells after different treatments. At the animal level, mice were injected with A549 cell suspension (5×10⁶/100 μL) to construct the NSCLC model. They were randomly divided into model-M group, PMS group (50 mg·kg^-1 PMS), miR-525-5p inhibitor-M group (50 mg·kg^-1 PMS+miR-525-5p inhibitor) and sh-UBE2C-M group (50 mg·kg^-1 PMS+miR-525-5p inhibitor+sh-UBE2C). All groups were treated for 5 days with once a day. The size of the transplanted tumor was measured with a ruler every 7 days, and the transplanted tumor was removed and weighed on the 28th day. The number of Transwell invasions in control group, model group, NC inhibitor group, miR-525-5p inhibitor group, sh-NC group and sh-UBE2C group were 173.62±23.46, 82.05±14.17, 84.69±13.82, 143.48±19.81, 139.57±18.24 and 105.93±16.25, respectively; the apoptosis rates were (22.65±4.01)%, (53.34±8.93)%, (51.46±8.81)%, (37.52±5.86)%, (34.83±5.27)% and (48.75±6.19)%, respectively. Compared in model group and control group, compared in miR-525-5p inhibitor group and NC inhibitor group, compared in sh-UBE2C group and sh-NC group, there were significant differences in the number of Transwell invasion and apoptosis rates (all P<0.05). At the animal level, 28 d tumor volumes of model-M group, PMS group, miR-525-5p inhibitor-M group and sh-UBE2C-M group were (966.30±176.53), (495.70±52.40), (841.10±121.25) and (623.80±105.85) mm³, respectively; the tumor weight on day 28 were (1.43±0.52), (0.75±0.21), (1.32±0.43) and (0.85±0.26) g, respectively. Differences of the tumor volume and weight between PMS group and model-M group, sh-UBE2C-M group and miR-525-5p inhibitor-M group were statistically significant at the 28th day (P<0.01, P<0.001).

PMS can significantly inhibit the growth and metastasis of NSCLC by regulating the miR-525-5p/UBE2C axis.