Long non-coding RNA SNHG7 promotes migration and invasion of melanoma via upregulating SOX4

Long non-coding RNA SNHG7 facilitates pancreatic cancer progression by regulating the miR-146b-5p/Robo1 axis

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) small nucleolar RNA host gene 7 (SNHG7) plays a crucial role in the progression of pancreatic cancer (PC). SNHG7 is upregulated in PC; therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the role and underlying mechanism of SNHG7 on PC progression. In the present study, the mRNA expression levels of SNHG7, microRNA(miR)-146b-5p and roundabout homolog 1 (Robo1) were measured via reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Moreover, cell viability and apoptosis were assessed by MTT and flow cytometry assays, respectively. The ability of cells to migrate and invade was evaluated by Transwell assays. In addition, dual-luciferase reporter, RNA immunoprecipitation and RNA pull-down assays were conducted to assess the interaction between miR-146b-5p and SNHG7 or Robo1. The protein expression of Robo1 was measured via western blotting. Furthermore, mouse xenograft models were established to further investigate the effect of SNHG7 on PC progression in vivo. The results indicated that SNHG7 was highly expressed in PC tissues and cells. It was also found that SNHG7 was sponged by miR-146b-5p and that Robo1 was a target of miR-146b-5p. Moreover, it was demonstrated that SNHG7 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, as well as tumorigenesis and apoptosis of PC cells in vitro and in vivo by regulating miR-146b-5p. The results also suggested that miR-146b-5p overexpression inhibited the progression of PC cells by modulating Robo1. Furthermore, silencing of SNHG7 downregulated Robo1 expression by sponging miR-146b-5p. Collectively, the present results indicate that SNHG7 promotes PC progression by sponging miR-146b-5p and upregulating Robo1.

The role of long noncoding RNA SNHG7 in human cancers (Review)

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to serve important roles in a variety of human tumor types. The lncRNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 7 (SNHG7) is associated with a variety of cancer types, such as esophageal cancer, breast cancer and gastric neoplasia. Based on previous studies that examined SNHG7 expression in tumors, it has become clear that SNHG7 modulates tumorigenesis and cancer progression by acting as a competing endogenous RNA. SNHG7 can sponge tumor-suppressive microRNAs and regulate downstream signaling pathways. In addition, overexpression of SNHG7 is associated with the clinical characteristics of patients with cancer by regulating cellular proliferation, invasion and metastasis and by inhibiting apoptosis via a variety of mechanisms of action. The function of SNHG7 in tumorigenesis and cancer progression indicates that it can potentially act as a novel therapeutic target or a diagnostic biomarker for cancer therapy or detection, respectively.

An Emerging Class of Long Non-coding RNA With Oncogenic Role Arises From the snoRNA Host Genes

The small nucleolar RNA host genes (SNHGs) are a group of long non-coding RNAs, which are reported in many studies as being overexpressed in various cancers. With very few exceptions, the SNHGs (SNHG1, SNHG3, SNHG5, SNHG6, SNHG7, SNHG12, SNHG15, SNHG16, SNHG20) are recognized as inducing increased proliferation, cell cycle progression, invasion, and metastasis of cancer cells, which makes this class of transcripts a viable biomarker for cancer development and aggressiveness. Through our literature research, we also found that silencing of SNHGs through small interfering RNAs or short hairpin RNAs is very effective in both in vitro and in vivo experiments by lowering the aggressiveness of solid cancers. The knockdown of SNHG as a new cancer therapeutic option should be investigated more in the future.

SNHG7 accelerates cell migration and invasion through regulating miR-34a-Snail-EMT axis in gastric cancer

Small nucleolar RNA host gene 7 (SNHG7) is a newly recognized oncogenic Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in most human cancers. In gastric cancer, SNHG7 has been suggested to enhance cell proliferation and suppressed apoptosis through down-regulating P15 and P16 expression, but the effect of SNHG7 on gastric cancer cell migration and invasion was still unknown. In our study, we aimed to estimate the relationship between SNHG7 expression and clinical and pathological characteristics, and explore the effect of SNHG7 on gastric cancer cell migration and invasion. In our study, the levels of SNHG7 expression in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines were severally higher than in normal adjacent tissues and gastric mucosal epithelial cells. Moreover, high SNHG7 expression was positively correlated with TNM stage, depth of invasion, lymph-node metastasis and distant metastasis in gastric cancer patients. Furthermore, the multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis further showed high SNHG7 expression was an independent poor prognostic factor for overall survival in gastric cancer patients. The studies in vitro revealed that SNHG7 directly binds to miR-34a and negatively regulates miR-34a expression, and SNHG7 enhances gastric cancer cell migration and invasion through suppressing miR-34a-Snail-EMT axis. In conclusion, SNHG7 functions as oncogenic lncRNA in gastric cancer and may be a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer patients.Abbreviations: lncRNA: Long non-coding RNA; SNHG7: Small nucleolar RNA host gene 7; EMT: Epithelial mesenchymal transition; TNM: Tumor-Lymph Node-Metastasis.