Long non-coding RNA AFAP1-AS1 facilitates prostate cancer progression by regulating miR-15b/IGF1R axis

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Liu ◽  
Hui-Yang Jiang ◽  
Tao Yuan ◽  
Wei-Dong Zhou ◽  
Zhen-Dong Xiang ◽  
...  

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is a commonly diagnosed malignant cancer and is the second highest cause of cancer related death in men worldwide. Enzalutamide is the second-generation inhibitor of androgen receptor signaling and is the fundamental drug for the treatment of advanced PCa. However, the disease will eventually progress to metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and aggressive neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) because of androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) resistance. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) AFAP1-AS1 in ADT resistance. Objective: Quantitative real-time PCR analysis (qPCR) was used to assess the expression of AFAP1-AS1 in PCa cell lines and tissues. Cell proliferation and invasion were assessed after AFAP1-AS1 knockdown using Cell Counting Kit (CCK)-8 and Transwell assay, respectively. A dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was carried out to validate the regulatory relationship among AFAP1-AS1, microRNA (miR)-15b, and insulin-like growth factor1 receptor (IGF1R). Results: AFAP1-AS1 level was markedly increased in castration-resistant C4-2 cells and NE-like cells (PC3, DU145, and NCI-H660), compared with androgen-sensitive LNCaP cells. Enzalutamide treatment increased the expression of AFAP1-AS1 in vitro and in vivo. Functionally, AFAP1-AS1 knockdown repressed tumor cell proliferation and invasion. Mechanistically, AFAP1-AS1 functioned as an oncogene in PCa through binding to miR-15b and destroying its tumor suppressor function. Finally, we identified that AFAP1-AS1 up-regulated IGF1R expression by competitively binding to miR-15b to de-repress IGF1R. Conclusion: AFAP1-AS1 facilitates PCa progression by regulating miR-15b/IGF1R axis, indicating that AFAP1-AS1 may serve as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for PCa.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuxin Zhao ◽  
Zhaoxia Wang ◽  
Meili Gao ◽  
Xuehong Wang ◽  
Hui Feng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) metastasis associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) was reported as an oncogene in many tumors including retinoblastoma (RB). This research mainly focused on the functions and mechanism of MALAT1 in RB.Methods: The levels of MALAT1, microRNA-655-3p (miR-655-3p), and ATPase family AAA domain containing 2 (ATAD2) in RB tissues and cells were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The cell viability and apoptotic rate were monitored via cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The protein levels of p21, CyclinD1, B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), cleaved-casp-3, E-cadherin, Ncadherin, Vimentin, and ATAD2 were detected by Western blot assay. Transwell assay was performed to estimate the abilities of migration and invasion. The interactions between miR-655-3p and MALAT1 or ATAD2 were predicted by starBase. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was constructed to verify these interactions. The mice model experiments were established to validate the effects of MALAT1 in vivo.Results: MALAT1and ATAD2 were significantly increased while the level of miR-655-3p was remarkably decreased in RB tissues and cells. MALAT1 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation, metastasis, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) but promoted apoptosis via miR-655-3p in vitro, and blocked xenograft tumor growth in vivo. MALAT1 was validated to sponge miR-655-3p and ATAD2 was verified as a candidate of miR-655-3p. MiR-655-3p overexpression inhibited cell proliferation but promoted apoptosis by targeting ATAD2. MALAT1 silencing affected cell behaviors by regulating ATAD2. MALAT1 depletion down-regulated ATAD2 expression via miR-655-3p in RB cells.Conclusion: MALAT1 positively regulated ATAD2 to accelerate cell proliferation but retard apoptosis by sponging miR-655-3p in RB cells.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liansheng Zhang ◽  
Yougan Chen ◽  
Zhenjie Wang ◽  
Qiang Xia

Abstract Background: Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most common malignant tumors. Recently, it has been reported that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play key roles in tumor progression. Studies have revealed that long non-coding RNA CAR10 (CAR10) can regulate tumor cell behaviors through sponging miR-203. In this study, we examined the effects of CAR10 in PC cells. Methods: Firstly, real time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to explore CAR10 expression in tumor tissues, peripheral blood of PC patients, and PC cells. We used the dual-luciferase reporter gene assay to analyze the relationship between CAR10 and miR-203. Moreover, flow cytometry, MTT assay, and western blot assay were used to determine cell apoptosis, cell viability, and apoptosis-related protein expression. Results: The results showed that CAR10 expression was remarkably higher in PC samples compared with that of control, and CAR10 regulated miR-203 negatively in PC cells. The qRT-PCR results also showed that miR-203 expression was significantly decreased in PC samples. Moreover, knockdown of CAR10 inhibited PC cell viability and promoted cleaved caspase-3 expression but induced PC cell apoptosis and, reduced pro-caspase-3 expression; miR-203 inhibitor reversed these effects. Conclusion: Our study found that CAR10 is a potential oncogene in PC and suggests that CAR10 inhibition could inhibit PC cell viability but promote PC cell apoptosis through regulating miR-203 expression. Our results show that CAR10 is a potential target for the treatment of PC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xibao Hu ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Jingjing Tian ◽  
Junhong Ma

Abstract Background and objectives Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) prostate androgen-regulated transcript 1 (PART1) was previously shown to exert an oncogenic role in several human cancers. However, whether PART1 is associated with the malignant progression of pancreatic cancer remains unclear. In the current study, we aimed to identify the role and potential mechanism of PART1 in pancreatic cancer. Methods qRT-PCR was applied to detect PART1 expression in 45 cases of pancreatic cancer patients. The chi-square test was performed to assess the association between PART1 expression and clinicopathologic features, and Kaplan-Meier method was applied to evaluate overall survival. In vitro CCK-8, transwell invasion, and flow cytometry assays were applied to detect the effects of PART1 on cell proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis, respectively. Luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation assays were used to identify the regulatory mechanism between PART1 and miR-122. Results PART1 expression was upregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. High PART1 expression was closely correlated with tumor size, T classification, clinical stage, and vascular invasion, and predicted a poor overall survival. PART1 knockdown significantly suppressed cell proliferation and invasion abilities of pancreatic cancer but promoted cell apoptosis. PART1 was found to serve as a molecular sponge of miR-122, and miR-122 inhibition partially reversed the inhibitory phenotypes of PART1 knockdown on pancreatic cancer cells. Conclusions PART1 promotes the malignant progression of pancreatic cancer by sponging miR-122. The PART1/miR-122 axis might be a promising target for anticancer therapy in patients with pancreatic cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 284-295
Author(s):  
Yongtian Zhang ◽  
Dandan Zhao ◽  
Shumei Li ◽  
Meng Xiao ◽  
Hongjing Zhou ◽  
...  

AbstractMultiple myeloma (MM) is a serious health issue in hematological malignancies. Long non-coding RNA taurine-upregulated gene 1 (TUG1) has been reported to be highly expressed in the plasma of MM patients. However, the functions of TUG1 in MM tumorigenesis along with related molecular basis are still undefined. In this study, increased TUG1 and decreased microRNA-34a-5p (miR-34a-5p) levels in MM tissues and cells were measured by the real-time quantitative polymerase reaction assay. The expression of relative proteins was determined by the Western blot assay. TUG1 knockdown suppressed cell viability, induced cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis in MM cells, as shown by Cell Counting Kit-8 and flow cytometry assays. Bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter assay, and RNA pull-down assay indicated that miR-34a-5p was a target of TUG1 and directly bound to notch receptor 1 (NOTCH1), and TUG1 regulated the NOTCH1 expression by targeting miR-34a-5p. The functions of miR-34a-5p were abrogated by TUG1 upregulation. Moreover, TUG1 loss impeded MM xenograft tumor growth in vivo by upregulating miR-34a-5p and downregulating NOTCH1. Furthermore, TUG1 depletion inhibited the expression of Hes-1, Survivin, and Bcl-2 protein in MM cells and xenograft tumors. TUG1 knockdown inhibited MM tumorigenesis by regulating the miR-34a-5p/NOTCH1 signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo, deepening our understanding of the TUG1 function in MM.


Open Medicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 921-931
Author(s):  
Juan Zhao ◽  
Xue-Bin Zeng ◽  
Hong-Yan Zhang ◽  
Jie-Wei Xiang ◽  
Yu-Song Liu

AbstractLong non-coding RNA forkhead box D2 adjacent opposite strand RNA 1 (FOXD2-AS1) has emerged as a potential oncogene in several tumors. However, its biological function and potential regulatory mechanism in glioma have not been fully investigated to date. In the present study, RT-qPCR was conducted to detect the levels of FOXD2-AS1 and microRNA (miR)-506-5p, and western blot assays were performed to measure the expression of CDK2, cyclinE1, P21, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)7, MMP9, N-cadherin, E-cadherin and vimentin in glioma cells. A luciferase reporter assay was performed to verify the direct targeting of miR-506-5p by FOXD2-AS1. Subsequently, cell viability was analyzed using the CCK-8 assay. Cell migration and invasion were analyzed using Transwell and wound healing assays, respectively. The results demonstrated that FOXD2-AS1 was significantly overexpressed in glioma cells, particularly in U251 cells. Knockdown of FOXD2-AS1 in glioma cells significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and regulated the expression of CDK2, cyclinE1, P21, MMP7 and MMP9. Next, a possible mechanism for these results was explored, and it was observed that FOXD2-AS1 binds to and negatively regulates miR-506-5p, which is known to be a tumor-suppressor gene in certain human cancer types. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-506-5p significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT, and these effects could be reversed by transfecting FOXD2-AS1 into the cells. In conclusion, our data suggested that FOXD2-AS1 contributed to glioma proliferation, metastasis and EMT via competitively binding to miR-506-5p. FOXD2-AS1 may be a promising target for therapy in patients with glioma.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juanjuan Shi ◽  
Xijian Xu ◽  
Dan Zhang ◽  
Jiuyan Zhang ◽  
Hui Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Long non-coding RNA PTPRG antisense RNA 1 (PTPRG-AS1) deregulation has been reported in various human malignancies and identified as an important modulator of cancer development. Few reports have focused on the detailed role of PTPRG-AS1 in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and its underlying mechanism. This study aimed to determine the physiological function of PTPRG-AS1 in EOC. A series of experiments were also performed to identify the mechanisms through which PTPRG-AS1 exerts its function in EOC.Methods: Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to determine PTPRG-AS1 expression in EOC tissues and cell lines. PTPRG-AS1 was silenced in EOC cells and studied with respect to cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. The putative miRNAs that target PTPRG-AS1 were predicted using bioinformatics analysis and further confirmed in luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation assays.Results: Our data verified the upregulation of PTPRG-AS1 in EOC tissues and cell lines. High PTPRG-AS1 expression was associated with shorter overall survival in patients with EOC. Functionally, EOC cell proliferation, migration, invasion in vitro, and tumor growth in vivo were suppressed by PTPRG-AS1 silencing. In contrast, cell apoptosis was promoted by loss of PTPRG-AS1. Regarding the mechanism, PTPRG-AS1 could serve as a competing endogenous RNA in EOC cells by decoying microRNA-545-3p (miR-545-3p), thereby elevating histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) expression. Furthermore, rescue experiments revealed that PTPRG-AS1 knockdown-mediated effects on EOC cells were, in part, counteracted by the inhibition of miR-545-3p or restoration of HDAC4.Conclusions: PTPRG-AS1 functioned as an oncogenic lncRNA that aggravated the malignancy of EOC through the miR-545-3p/HDAC4 ceRNA network. Thus, targeting the PTPRG-AS1/miR-545-3p/HDAC4 pathway may be a novel strategy for EOC anticancer therapy.


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