miR‑767‑5p inhibits glioma proliferation and metastasis by targeting SUZ12

MicroRNA-767-5p promotes metastasis but improves chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic sensitivity of osteosarcoma

The aim of this study was to explore the role of microRNA-767-5p (miR-767-5p) in regulating the osteosarcoma (OS) prognosis, metastasis and sensitivity to chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic sensitivity. We observed that miR-767-5p expression in the specimens of patients with metastatic OS was higher than in healthy individuals and was also negatively correlated with the overall survival of patients with OS. Functional assays (CCK-8, transwell, colony formation) and a tumor xenograft model demonstrated that miR-767-5p over-expression in both U2OS and 143B OS cell lines promoted cell invasion and migration without affecting proliferation, whereas its knockdown had opposite effects. Notably, miR-767-5p over-expression enhanced the sensitivity of both U2OS and 143B cells to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Combing target gene prediction, RNA-sequencing and overall survival analysis, we identified aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) as the potential target gene of miR-767-5p. Luciferase assay confirmed that miR-767-5p promoted the 3'-UTR activity of AHR through direct binding. Strikingly, AHR over-expression in both U2OS and 143B cells suppressed invasion, migration while reduced therapeutic sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiotherapy-thereby reversing miR-767-5p's phenotypic impact. Therefore, this study suggested that miR-767-5p promotes OS metastasis but improves its sensitivity to radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Belogurov AA. The Correlation Patterns of miRNA Expression with Targeted mRNA Transcripts in Glioma Patients with Wild-Type and Mutated Isocitrate Dehydrogenase (IDH) Genotypes

Low-grade gliomas are divided into two main genetic phenotypes based on the presence or absence of mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes. The mutated IDH phenotype (IDHmut), in contrast to the wild-type phenotype (IDHwt), is characterized by a more positive response to pharmacological intervention and a significantly longer survival time. In this study, we analyzed the differential co-expression of 225,000 microRNA-mRNA pairs at the level of correlations between microRNA levels and their potential mRNA targets. Analysis of the associative relationships of individual representatives of the selected pairs revealed that the level of mRNAs encoded by the ELN, ARL4C, C9orf64, PLAT, and FKBP9 genes associated with aggressive progression of glioma was increased in the IDHwt group. Meanwhile, the levels of miRNA-182, miRNA-455, and miRNA-891a associated with the negative prognosis in glioma were generally increased in the IDHmut group. Most (16/21) of the detected 21 microRNA-mRNA pairs with significant difference in regulation between IDHwt and IDHmut glioma samples had a weak or moderate positive correlation in IDHmut samples and a negative correlation in IDHwt samples. Therefore, our findings indicate that glioma samples from the IDHmut group with a positive prognosis potentially have a significantly less pronounced ability to microRNA-mediated regulation. We further suggest that such physiological disorders can lead to reduced tumor viability, resulting in an increased ability of the host to resist the spread of a malignant transformation of this genetic phenotype.

Non-coding RNAs and glioblastoma: Insight into their roles in metastasis

Glioma, also known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most prevalent and most lethal primary brain tumor in adults. Gliomas are highly invasive tumors with the highest death rate among all primary brain malignancies. Metastasis occurs as the tumor cells spread from the site of origin to another site in the brain. Metastasis is a multifactorial process, which depends on alterations in metabolism, genetic mutations, and the cancer microenvironment. During recent years, the scientific study of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) has led to new insight into the molecular mechanisms involved in glioma. Many studies have reported that ncRNAs play major roles in many biological procedures connected with the development and progression of glioma. Long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) are all types of ncRNAs, which are commonly dysregulated in GBM. Dysregulation of ncRNAs can facilitate the invasion and metastasis of glioma. The present review highlights some ncRNAs that have been associated with metastasis in GBM. miRNAs, circRNAs, and lncRNAs are discussed in detail with respect to their relevant signaling pathways involved in metastasis.

The Value of miR-296 and miR-517c in Evaluating the Prognosis of Patients with Glioma after Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy

OBJECTIVE

To explore the value of miR-296 and miR-517c in evaluating the prognosis of patients with glioma after radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

METHODS

732 patients with glioma were selected from January 2012 to January 2018. According to the effect of postoperative chemotherapy, the patients were divided into two groups: the effective group and the ineffective group. The serum miR-296, miR-517c, and clinicopathological parameters of the two groups before chemotherapy were compared. The factors affecting the sensitivity of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and the predictive efficacy of miR-296 and miR-517c on the prognosis of patients were analyzed.

RESULTS

The expression level of miR-296 in glioma tissue was significantly correlated with tumor pathological grade and depth of invasion (P < 0.05), and the expression level of miR-296 in glioma tissue was significantly correlated with tumor pathological grade (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that tumor size, WHO grade, and serum miR-296 and miR-517c levels were all factors affecting chemosensitivity (P < 0.05). The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and AUC of serum miR-296 prediction were 76.95%, 89.64%, 85.35%, and 0.891, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and AUC of serum miR-517c prediction were 72.81%, 86.50%, 82.19%, and 0.739, respectively.

CONCLUSION

miR-296 and miR-517c are closely related to the chemosensitivity and prognosis of glioma patients. High levels of miR-296 and miR-517c can enhance chemosensitivity and serve as reliable indexes to predict the prognosis of patients with glioma.

Targeted MicroRNA Profiling in Gastric Cancer with Clinical Assessement

Although several microRNAs (miRNAs) have been associated with gastric cancer there is still the need for identification of stable and validated biomarkers. The purpose of this study was to determine the alterations of a specific set of miRNA levels in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues to identify and validate gastric cancer-specific miRNAs using paired normal and tumor samples in an independent patient cohort. Gastric adenocarcinoma and normal stomach tissue samples of 20 patients who underwent surgery for gastric cancer were studied. The miRNA expression profiling was performed for eight miRNAs in a total of 40 tissue samples using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Six out of these eight miRNAs, namely, miR-375-3p, hsamiR-129-5p, miR-196a-5p, miR-376c-3p, miR-34c-5p and miR-767-5p, were significantly underexpressed in malignant tissues of our cohort. Furthermore, the expression of miR-662 although not significantly different between normal and tumor tissues, was inversely associated with age (r = -0.440, p = 0.049). The levels of miR-129-3p and miR34c-5p were correlated with an increase in the number of metastatic lymph nodes (r = 0.470, p = 0.036; r = 0.510, p = 0.020), while and miR-376c-3p levels were negatively associated with smoking (p = 0.043). In addition, we found that the variability of miRNA expression in cancerous tissues was lower than that in normal tissues. Alterations in miRNA expression in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues in comparison to healthy tissues of each individual serves for identification of consistent biomarkers that can be used for development of diagnostic tools for gastric cancer.

The Mechanism of miR-141 Regulating the Proliferation and Metastasis of Liver Cancer Cells by Targeting STAT4

Background

In recent years, it has been reported that miRNA can be used as one of the markers of tumor diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis (including liver cancer), and it plays an important role in tumorigenesis. However, there are still very few studies on the mechanism and role of miR-141 in liver cancer.

Methods

qRT-PCR was used to test the expressions of miR-141 and STAT4 in collected liver cancer tissues and adjacent tissues, cultured liver cancer cell lines MHCC97H, Hep3B, and Huh7, and normal human liver cells HL7702. After processing the results of the qRT-PCR experiment, liver cancer cell MHCC97H which has the lowest expression level was decided to be taken as the research object. miR-NC, miR-141 mimics, si-NC, si-STAT4, miR-141 mimics and pcDNA-NC, and miR-141 mimics and pcDNA-STAT4 were transfected into MHCC97H cells, respectively. The MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation of each group of cells, and the Transwell test was used to detect the effect of miR-141 on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. The interaction between miR-141 and STAT4 was verified by the dual-luciferase reporter experiment, and the expression level of Cyclin D1 and MMP2 was detected by the western blot.

Results

Compared with normal cell HL7702, the expression level of miR-141 in liver cancer cell lines was relatively low (P < 0.05) and the expression level of STAT4 in liver cancer cell lines was relatively high (P < 0.05) after testing the expression level of STAT4; transfecting miR-141 mimics or Si-SLBP can inhibit cell proliferation, migration, and invasion; dual-luciferase reporter experiments confirmed that miR-141 can specifically bind to the 3′UTR of STAT4; cotransfection of miR-141 mimics and pcDNA-STAT4 can antagonize the effects of miR-141 mimics on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.

Conclusion

miR-141 can target the STAT4 gene expression to inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of liver cancer cells.

Rediscovering potential molecular targets for glioma therapy through the analysis of the cell of origin, microenvironment, and metabolism

Gliomas are the most common type of malignant brain tumors. Despite significant medical advances, gliomas remain incurable and are associated with high mortality. Although numerous biomarkers of diagnostic value have been identified and significant progress in the prognosis of the outcome has been made, the treatment has not been parallelly improved during the last three decades. This review summarizes and discusses three aspects of recent discoveries related to glioma, with the objective to highlight the advantages of glioma-specific drugs targeting the cell of origin, microenvironment, and metabolism. Given the heterogeneous nature of gliomas, various cell populations have been implicated as likely sources of the tumor. Depending on the mutation(s) acquired by the cells, it is believed that neuronal stem/progenitor cells, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, mature neurons, and glial cells can initiate cell transformation into a malignant phenotype. The level of tumorigenicity appears to be inversely correlated with the maturation of a given cell population. The microenvironment of gliomas includes non-cancer cells such as immune cells, fibroblasts, and cells of blood vessels, as well as secreted molecules and the extracellular matrix, and all these components play a vital role during tumor initiation and progression. We will discuss in detail how the tumor microenvironment can stimulate and drive the transformation of non-tumor cell populations into tumor-supporting cells or glioma cells. Metabolic reprogramming is a key feature of gliomas and is thought to reflect the adaptation to the increased nutritional requirements of tumor cell proliferation, growth, and survival. Mutations in the IDH gene can shape metabolic reprogramming and may generate some vulnerabilities in glioma cells, such as abnormal lipid metabolism and sensitivity to endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS). We will analyze the prominent metabolic features of malignant gliomas and the key pathways regulating glioma metabolism. This review is intended to provide a conceptual background for the development of glioma therapies based on the properties of tumor cell populations, microenvironment, and metabolism.

MicroRNAs are critical regulators of senescence and aging in mesenchymal stem cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have recently come under scrutiny for their role in various age-related diseases. Similarly, cellular senescence has been linked to disease and aging. MicroRNAs and senescence likely play an intertwined role in driving these pathologic states. In this review, we present the connection between these two drivers of age-related disease concerning mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). First, we summarize key miRNAs that are differentially expressed in MSCs and other musculoskeletal lineage cells during senescence and aging. Additionally, we also reviewed miRNAs that are regulated via traditional senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) cytokines in MSC. Lastly, we summarize miRNAs that have been found to target components of the cell cycle arrest pathways inherently activated in senescence. This review attempts to highlight potential miRNA targets for regenerative medicine applications in age-related musculoskeletal disease.

Identifying an Eight-Gene Signature to Optimize Overall Survival Prediction of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Using Bioinformatics Analysis of ceRNA Network

Background and Aims

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) patients usually have a poor prognosis without early diagnosis. In this study, we aimed to identify a novel signature to improve the prediction of overall survival (OS) in EAC.

Methods

Eighty-one and 68 samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and GSE19417 dataset were included for discovery and survival validation, respectively. In the TCGA cohort, a total of 1,811 DEmRNAs, 1,096 DElncRNAs, and 31 DEmiRNAs were identified between EAC and normal esophagus tissues. A mRNA–miRNA–lncRNA ceRNA network of EAC was established, which consisted of 94 DEmRNAs, 13 DEmiRNAs, and 46 DElncRNAs.

Results

In this study, we identified eight genes (UBE2B, LAMP2, B3GNT2, TAF9B, EFNA1, PHF8, PIGA, and NEURL1) which were related to survival in EAC. The independent external microarray data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) was used to validate these candidate genes. The prognostic ability of the signature was also validated in EAC patients in our hospital. Patients assigned to the high-risk group had a poor overall survival rate compared with the low-risk.

Conclusion

The current study provides novel insights into the mRNA-related ceRNA network in EAC and the eight mRNA biomarkers may be independent prognostic signatures in predicting the survival of EAC patients.

MicroRNA-200a and microRNA-141 have a synergetic effect on the suppression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in liver cancer by targeting STAT4

MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) are non-coding small RNAs that target specific messenger RNAs to inhibit protein translation. miR-200a and miR-141 function as tumor suppressors by targeting STAT4. These two miRNAs belong to the same family, and their expression is often decreased in various cancer types, but are located on different chromosomes of the human genome. The present study showed that the expression levels of miR-141 and miR-200a in serum and cells of liver cancer are significantly downregulated. The expression levels of miR-141 and miR-200a are closely associated with clinicopathological features of liver cancer, especially metastasis and invasion. It is first reported that STAT4 is the new common target gene of miR-141 and miR-200a. In the present study, miR-141 and miR-200a were confirmed to inhibit the expression of E-cadherin and vimentin synergistically during epithelial-mesenchymal transition to regulate the proliferation, migration and invasion of liver cancer cells by targeting STAT4. Simultaneous overexpression of miR-200a and miR-141 resulted in stronger effects compared with each miRNA alone. In addition, overexpression of STAT4 significantly reversed the tumor suppressive roles of miR-200a and miR-141 in liver cancer cells. These findings enrich the tumor suppressor mechanisms of the miR-200 family, and may also provide new experimental and theoretical basis for the use of miRNAs for early diagnosis, prognosis and thorough treatment of liver cancer.

Crosstalk between microglia and patient-derived glioblastoma cells inhibit invasion in a three-dimensional gelatin hydrogel model

BACKGROUND

Glioblastoma is the most common and deadly form of primary brain cancer, accounting for more than 13,000 new diagnoses annually in the USA alone. Microglia are the innate immune cells within the central nervous system, acting as a front-line defense against injuries and inflammation via a process that involves transformation from a quiescent to an activated phenotype. Crosstalk between GBM cells and microglia represents an important axis to consider in the development of tissue engineering platforms to examine pathophysiological processes underlying GBM progression and therapy.

METHODS

This work used a brain-mimetic hydrogel system to study patient-derived glioblastoma specimens and their interactions with microglia. Here, glioblastoma cells were either cultured alone in 3D hydrogels or in co-culture with microglia in a manner that allowed secretome-based signaling but prevented direct GBM-microglia contact. Patterns of GBM cell invasion were quantified using a three-dimensional spheroid assay. Secretome and transcriptome (via RNAseq) were used to profile the consequences of GBM-microglia interactions.

RESULTS

Microglia displayed an activated phenotype as a result of GBM crosstalk. Three-dimensional migration patterns of patient-derived glioblastoma cells showed invasion was significantly decreased in response to microglia paracrine signaling. Potential molecular mechanisms underlying with this phenotype were identified from bioinformatic analysis of secretome and RNAseq data.

CONCLUSION

The data demonstrate a tissue engineered hydrogel platform can be used to investigate crosstalk between immune cells of the tumor microenvironment related to GBM progression. Such multi-dimensional models may provide valuable insight to inform therapeutic innovations to improve GBM treatment.

MiR-935/HIF1α Feedback Loop Inhibits the Proliferation and Invasiveness of Glioma

Objective

The biological functions and molecular mechanisms of miR-935 have been widely investigated in various types of cancer. The aim of the present study was to explore the function of miR-935 in glioma.

Methods

Bioinformatic analysis and quantitative real-time fluorescent PCR (qRT-PCR) were used to determine the expression of miR-935 in glioma tissues and glioma cell lines. Chi-square test was performed to analyze the relationship between the expression of miR-935 and clinical traits. CCK-8 assay, colony formation assay, cell cycle analysis and subcutaneous tumorigenesis model in nude mice were conducted to determine the effects of miR-935 on the proliferation of glioma cells both in vitro and in vivo. Wound healing and transwell assays were used to detect the effects of miR-935 on the migration and invasion of glioma cells in vitro. The relationship between miR-935 and HIF1α was analyzed using bioinformatics, luciferase reporter assay and Western blotting.

Results

The expression of miR-935 was lower in glioma tissues than in the adjacent tissues, and in cell lines than in the normal human astrocytes (NHAs), and the low expression levels of miR-935 predicted a poor outcome. Exogenous overexpression of miR-935 inhibited the proliferation of glioma cells both in vitro and in vivo, and suppressed the migration and invasion of glioma cells in vitro. HIF1α was identified as the target of miR-935, whereas miR-935 overexpression decreased the expression of HIF1α and its target genes VEGF, MCL1 and GLUT1. Strikingly, overexpression of HIF1α significantly decreased the expression of miR-935, whereas silencing HIF1α increased the expression of miR-935. Similarly, HIF1α overexpression remarkably reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-935 on the proliferation, migration and invasion of glioma cells.

Conclusion

Overall, present study reveals the presence of miR-935/HIF1α feedback loop in glioma, which inhibits the development of glioma. This feedback loop may be a potential target for the treatment of glioma.

Identification and Expression of Several Circular RNAs and Knockdown of hsa_circ_0005556 Exerts Oncogenic Functions by miR-767-5p in Gastric Cancer

BACKGROUND Gastric cancer (GC) remains one of the most fatal digestive cancers in the world; nevertheless, its etiology remains vague. With the development of bioinformatics analysis, numerous circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been found to be dysregulated in GC. However, the functions of a large portion of dysregulated circRNAs in GC need further validation. In this study, we aimed to validate the biological functions of circ_0005556, which was previously identified to be dysregulated in GC. MATERIAL AND METHODS Levels of circRNAs and miRNAs in GC tissues and cells were estimated by qRT-PCR. The target miRNAs of circ_0005556 were predicted by bioinformatics methods. The interplay between circ_0005556 and miR-767-5p was validated by dual-luciferase reporter and circRNA immunoprecipitation assays. The effects of circ_0005556 and miR-767-5p on GC cell viability, apoptosis, migration, and invasion were assessed by MTT, flow cytometry, wound-healing and in vitro transwell experiments, respectively. RESULTS The upregulation of circ_0005556 was validated by qRT-PCR in GC tissues and cells, and a higher circ_0005556 level indicated a poorer prognosis. miR-767-5p was demonstrated to target circ_0005556 in GC cells, and a negative correlation was found between their expression levels in GC tissues. Knockdown of circ_0005556 promoted miR-767-5p expression in GC cells. Knockdown of circ_0005556 was revealed to repress GC cell viability, invasion, and migration and to promote GC cell apoptosis. Moreover, overexpression of miR-767-5p could significantly augment the repressive impacts of circ_0005556 knockdown on GC cell progression in vitro. CONCLUSIONS The in vitro knockdown of circ_0005556 remarkably repressed GC cell progression by increasing the expression of miR-767-5p.

Clinical and Biological Significances of a Methyltransferase-Related Signature in Diffuse Glioma

Methylation of DNA, RNA or protein is a reversible modification. The proteins and genes that regulate this modification can be a candidate target for tumor therapy. However, the characteristics of methyltransferase related genes in glioma remain obscure. In this study, we systematically analyzed the relationship between methyltransferase-related genes expression profiles and outcomes in glioma patients based on The Cancer Genome Atlas and Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas RNA sequencing datasets. Consensus clustering identified two robust groups with significantly different pathological features and prognosis. Then a methyltransferase-related risk signature was built by a Cox proportional hazards model with elastic net penalty. Moreover, the risk score is associated with patients' clinical and molecular features and can be used as an independent prognostic indicator for patients with glioma. Furthermore, genes associated with the high-risk group were involved in various aspects of the malignant progression of glioma via Gene Ontology analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. In summary, our study identified a methyltransferase-related risk signature for predicting the prognosis of gliomas.

Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction-mediated miR-767 inhibition suppresses tumor progression of non-small cell lung cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) have important roles in tumor progression in various human cancers. Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD)-mediated gene transfection has been considered a useful tool for improving cancer treatment. The present study aimed to investigate the role of miR-767 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and further analyze the effects of UTMD-mediated miR-767 inhibition on tumor progression. The expression of miR-767 was measured by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. UTMD-mediated miR-767 inhibition was achieved by the co-transfection of microbubbles and miR-767 inhibitor in NSCLC cells. Cell proliferation was assessed by a CCK-8 assay and cell migration and invasion were examined by a Transwell assay. The expression of miR-767 was increased in NSCLC serum, tissues and cells compared with controls. The reduction of miR-767 in NSCLC cells led to the inhibition of cell proliferation, migration and invasion. UTMD increased the transfection efficiency of the miR-767 inhibitor in NSCLC cells, and UTMD-mediated miR-767 inhibition resulted in a more significant suppressive effect on tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Taken together, the results indicated that miR-767 expression is upregulated in both NSCLC clinical samples and cells. The downregulation of miR-767 can inhibit tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and these effects are further promoted by UTMD-mediated miR-767 inhibition, which indicated the potential of a UTMD-mediated miR-767 inhibition as a novel therapeutic strategy for NSCLC treatment.

Repression of PCGF1 Decreases the Proliferation of Glioblastoma Cells in Association with Inactivation of c-Myc Signaling Pathway

Purpose

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor with a poor therapeutic outcome. Polycomb group factor 1 (PCGF1), a member of the PcG (Polycomb group) family, is highly expressed in the developing nervous system of mice. However, the function and the mechanism of PCGF1 in GBM proliferation still remain unclear.

Methods

Knockdown of PCGF1 was performed in U87 GBM cell by shRNA strategy via lentivirus vector. MTT assay, colony formation assays, and flow cytometry were used to measure the properties of cell proliferation and cell cycle distribution, respectively. GeneChip analysis was performed to identify the downstream effector molecules. Rescue assay was constructed to verify the screening results.

Results

We first found that knockdown of PCGF1 led to the inhibition of U87 cells proliferation and decreased colony formation ability. The data from GeneChip expression profiling and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) indicated that many of the altered gene cells are associated with the cell proliferation control pathways. We have further confirmed the suppression of AKT/GSK3β/c-Myc/cyclinD1 expressions by Western blotting analysis. The over-expression of c-Myc could partly restore the attenuated proliferation ability caused by knockdown of PCGF1.

Conclusion

All the above evidences suggested that PCGF1 might be closely associated with tumorigenesis and progression of glioblastoma (GBM), in which process the oncoprotein c-Myc may participate. PCGF1 could thus be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM).

Long non-coding RNA TUG1 promotes cell progression in hepatocellular carcinoma via regulating miR-216b-5p/DLX2 axis

BACKGROUND

Accumulating evidence indicates that the long noncoding RNA taurine upregulated gene 1(TUG1) plays a critical role in cancer progression and metastasis. However, the overall biological role and clinical significance of TUG1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain largely unknown.

METHODS

The expressions of TUG1, microRNA-216b-5p and distal-less homeobox 2 (DLX2) were detected by Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The target relationships were predicted by StarBase v.2.0 or TargetScan and confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The cell growth, apoptosis, migration and invasion were detected by 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), Flow cytometry and Transwell assays, respectively. All protein expression levels were detected by western blot. Tumor xenografts were implemented to explore the role of TUG1 in vivo.

RESULTS

We found that there was a marked rise in TUG1 expression in HCC tissues and cells, and knockdown of TUG1 repressed the growth and metastasis and promoted apoptosis of HCC cells. In particular, TUG1 could act as a ceRNA, effectively becoming a sink for miR-216b-5p to fortify the expression of DLX2. Additionally, repression of TUG1 impared the progression of HCC cells by inhibiting DLX2 expression via sponging miR-216b-5p in vitro. More importantly, TUG1 knockdown inhibited HCC tumor growth in vivo through upregulating miR-216b-5p via inactivation of the DLX2.

CONCLUSION

TUG1 interacting with miR-216b-5p contributed to proliferation, metastasis, tumorigenesis and retarded apoptosis by activation of DLX2 in HCC.