LncRNA GAS5 Suppresses Ovarian Cancer Progression by Targeting miR-96-5p/PTEN Axis
Abstract Background Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) play critical roles in tumor occurrence and progression, including ovarian cancer (OC). The lncRNA growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (GAS5) has been proved to be an important modulator in the growth and metastasis of OC cells. Our studies confirm that GAS5 is down-regulated in OC; however, the potential molecular mechanism underlying it remains to be elucidated. Results In our study, we demonstrated that the expression levels of GAS5 and PTEN decreased, while miR-96-5p was up-regulated in ovarian cancer samples and cell lines compared with controls. PTEN is the downstream target gene of miR-96-5p. The up-regulation of GAS5 inhibited the expression of miR-96-5p, which directly targets PTEN. GAS5 overexpression can significantly reduce OC cell proliferation and invasion ability via suppression of miR-96-5p expression. PTEN/AKT/mTOR expression had a positive correlation with GAS5 expression. Moreover, miR-96-5p promoted OC progression by mediating PTEN/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Conclusion Our study identified GAS5 as a ceRNA which regulates the PTEN/AKT/mTOR axis through sponging miR-96-5p in OC.