Global characterization of miR-574-5p decoy to CUGBP1 in human lung cancer using a mass spectrometry proteomics approach

We aimed to characterize decoy to the RNA-binding protein CUG-RNA binding protein 1 (CUGBP1 mechanism in A549 lung cancer cells. We identified several new canonical targets of CUGBP1 but those were not regulated by miR-574-5p via the decoy mechanism. This can be explained by the localization of CUGBP1 and miR-574-5p in the nucleus, where CUGBP1 regulates alternative splicing. Next, we analyzed the 3’UTRs of potential targets and found that the decoy-dependent regulation of mPGES-1 splicing is unique. Therefore, we postulate that in A549 cells mPGES-1 is the only protein regulated by the decoy mechanism of CUGBP1 and miR-574-5p which suggests that the decoy mechanism allows the specific regulation of the expression of distinct targets.