Long non-coding RNA DSCR8 acts as a molecular sponge for miR-485-5p to activate Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma

LncRNA SNHG16 promotes proliferation, migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells by targeting miR-1301/BCL9 axis

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a key role in regulating tumor growth and metastasis of osteosarcoma (OS). Recent studies have reported that lncRNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 16 (SNHG16) is highly expressed in OS tissues and contributes to the proliferation, migration and invasion of OS cells. However, the molecular mechanism involved in the oncogenic role of SNHG16 in OS remains poorly known. In the current study, we confirmed that SNHG16 expression was markedly up-regulated in OS tissues compared to paracancerous tissues. The elevated level of SNHG16 closely associated with advanced tumor stages, larger tumor size and more distance metastasis. Furthermore, OS patients with high SNHG16 level had a significant poorer overall survival compared to patients with low SNHG16 level. Knockdown of SNHG16 suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of U2OS and MG63 cells. Mechanistically, SNHG16 acted as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) by directly interacting with miR-1301 and inversely regulated its abundance in OS cells. Notably, suppression of miR-1301 rescued SNHG16 knockdown attenuated OS cell proliferation, migration and invasion. SNHG16 knockdown reduced the expression of BCL9 protein in OS cells. Accordingly, BCL9 restoration facilitated the proliferation, migration and invasion of OS cells with SNHG16 knockdown. Collectively, these results suggest that SNHG16 is a potential prognostic biomarker for OS patients. SNHG16 promotes BCL9 expression by sponging miR-1301 to facilitate the proliferation, migration and invasion of OS cells.

Comparative analysis of lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles between periodontal ligament stem cells and gingival mesenchymal stem cells

Oral tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells, such as periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) and gingival mesenchymal stem cells (GMSCs), possess different biological characteristics, but the molecular mechanism remains unclear, which restricts their application in tissue engineering. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to be significant regulators of gene expression, but our knowledge about their roles in the regulation of stem cell biological properties is still limited. This study compared the lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles between PDLSCs and GMSCs through microarray analysis, and applied bioinformatics methods to analyze and predict the function and connection of differentially expressed genes, aiming to screen potential key regulators of diverse biological characteristics in PDLSCs and GMSCs. Microarray analysis showed that 2162 lncRNAs and 1347 mRNAs were significantly differentially expressed between PDLSCs and GMSCs. Gene ontology (GO) analysis and pathway analysis indicated that these differentially expressed genes were involved in diverse biological processes and signaling pathways. The gene signal network and pathway relation network predicted some potentially important regulators. The coding-noncoding gene coexpression network (CNC network) revealed many potential lncRNA-mRNA connection pairs that participated in the regulation of biological behaviors. These results stressed the roles of lncRNAs in controlling stem cell biological behaviors and provided guides for molecular mechanistic study of different biological characteristics in PDLSCs and GMSCs.

LncRNA HOXA-AS2 Facilitates Tumorigenesis and Progression of Papillary Thyroid Cancer by Modulating the miR-15a-5p/HOXA3 Axis

The long non-coding RNA HOXA-AS2 has been found to be an oncogene in several types of human malignant tumors. However, its role in regulating the occurrence and development of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is still unclear. The present study investigated the function and mechanism(s) of HOXA-AS2 in PTC progression. Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, HOXA-AS2 was found to be differentially expressed in PTC tissues and cell lines. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the overall survival rate of patients with higher levels of HOXA-AS2 was lower than those with relatively lower levels. Loss-of-function assays revealed that HOXA-AS2 knockdown inhibited PTC progression by inhibiting cellular proliferation, migration, and invasion and accelerating apoptosis. Mechanistically, loss-of-function assays showed a positive correlation between HOXA3 and HOXA-AS2 expression. Subcellular fractionation assay results revealed abundant HOXA-AS2 expression in the cytoplasm of PTC cells. Additionally, FOXD2-AS1 was found to upregulate HOXA3 expression by binding to miR-15a-5p. Finally, rescue assays demonstrated the overall function of the HOXA-AS2/miR-15a-5p/HOXA3 axis in PTC progression. These findings will significantly contribute to further research and the development of more efficient treatments for thyroid cancer in the future.

A novel lncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 promotes the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting miR-194-5p/FOXA1 axis

Background

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common malignant liver tumor with poor clinical outcomes. Increasing amount of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been revealed to be implicated in the carcinogenesis and progression of HCC. However, the expressions, clinical significances, and roles of most lncRNAs in HCC are still unknown.

Methods

The expression of lncRNA MCM3AP antisense RNA 1 (MCM3AP-AS1) in HCC tissues and cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Immunoblotting, CCK-8, EdU, colony formation and flow cytometry were performed to investigate the role of MCM3AP-AS1 in HCC cell proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis in vitro. A subcutaneous tumor mouse model was constructed to analyze in vivo growth of HCC cells after MCM3AP-AS1 knockdown. The interactions among MCM3AP-AS1, miR-194-5p and FOXA1 were measured by RNA pull-down, RNA immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assay.

Results

We revealed a novel oncogenic lncRNA MCM3AP-AS1, which is overexpressed in HCC and positively correlated with large tumor size, high tumor grade, advanced tumor stage and poor prognosis of HCC patients. MCM3AP-AS1 knockdown suppressed HCC cell proliferation, colony formation and cell cycle progression, and induced apoptosis in vitro, and depletion of MCM3AP-AS1 inhibited tumor growth of HCC in vivo. Mechanistically, MCM3AP-AS1 directly bound to miR-194-5p and acted as competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA), and subsequently facilitated miR-194-5p’s target gene forkhead box A1 (FOXA1) expression in HCC cells. Interestingly, FOXA1 restoration rescued MCM3AP-AS1 knockdown induced proliferation inhibition, G1 arrest and apoptosis of HCC cells.

Conclusions

Our results recognized MCM3AP-AS1 as a novel oncogenic lncRNA, which indicated poor clinical outcomes in patients with HCC. MCM3AP-AS1 exerted an oncogenic role in HCC via targeting miR-194-5p and subsequently promoted FOXA1 expression. Our findings suggested that MCM3AP-AS1 could be a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12943-019-0957-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

STAT3-induced upregulation of lncRNA CASC11 promotes the cell migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma by epigenetically silencing PTEN and activating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway

Accumulating evidence suggest that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are dysregulated in various tumors and serve as crucial regulators in biological processes. Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, upregulation of CASC11 was associated with the low overall survival rate of patients with Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the function and mechanism of lncRNA CASC11 in the progression of HCC remain unclear. Therefore, we further analyzed the expression pattern and biological role of CASC11 in HCC. CASC11 was found to be overexpressed in HCC tissues and cell lines and predicted a poor prognosis. Loss of CASC11 function efficiently suppressed cell migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The mechanism which led to the upregulation of CASC11 was investigated. CASC11 was found to be activated by the transcription factor STAT3. Mechanically, the enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) was found to be a binding partner of CASC11. Moreover, CASC11 epigenetically silenced PTEN by binding with EZH2. Finally, rescue assays were conducted to make confirmation. The present results revealed that CASC11 may be potential therapeutic target in HCC.

LncRNA KTN1-AS1 promotes tumor growth of hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting miR-23c/ERBB2IP axis

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are critical regulators in the tumorigenesis and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). LncRNA KTN1 antisense RNA 1 (KTN1-AS1) has been reported to play an important role in colorectal cancer and correlates with unfavorable clinical outcomes of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. However, the clinical significance and functional role of KTN1-AS1 in HCC are still unclear. Here, we found that KTN1-AS1 was a highly expressed lncRNA in HCC according to public available databases and our HCC cohort. Further analyses revealed that higher expression of KTN1-AS1 was observed in HCC tissues with large tumor size, high tumor grade and advanced TNM stage. Analysis of survival data indicated that high KTN1-AS1 expression was prominently correlated with poor clinical outcomes of HCC patients. Functionally, KTN1-AS1 knockdown suppressed cell proliferation and colony formation, and increased apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells in vitro. Furthermore, silencing of KTN1-AS1 restrained tumor growth of HCC in vivo. Conversely, forced expression of KTN1-AS1 facilitated Huh7 cell proliferation and inhibited apoptosis. Mechanistically, KTN1-AS1 inversely regulated miR-23c abundance in HCC cells. Further evidence supported that KTN1-AS1 acted as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) by directly sponging miR-23c in HCC cells. Interestingly, erbb2 interacting protein (ERBB2IP), a known target of miR-23c, was positively regulated by KTN1-AS1 and its restoration reversed KTN1-AS1 knockdown attenuated HCC cell growth. To conclude, our study sheds light on the novel function and underlying mechanism of KTN1-AS1 in HCC, which may accelerate the development of cancer therapy.