LncRNA SNHG8 Promotes Liver Cancer Proliferation and Metastasis by Sponging miR-542-3p and miR-4701-5p

Abstract

Growing evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are associated with carcinogenesis and could function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to regulate microRNAs (miRNAs). LncRNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 8 (LncRNA SNHG8) is up-regulated in various cancers and positively associated with poor prognosis of these cancers. However, the molecular mechanisms by which lncRNA SNHG8 contributes to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) still remains unclear. In the present study, we reported that lncRNA SNHG8 was abnormally up-regulated in liver cancer tissues and HCC cell lines. Moreover, knockdown of lncRNA SNHG8 significantly attenuated the proliferation, migration, invasion process of HCC cell line HepG2 in vitro. Mechanistically, we first reported that suppression of lncRNA SNHG8 evidently enhanced miR-542-3p and miR-4701-5p expression and decreased TET3 expression at posttranscriptional level. Furthermore, lncRNA SNHG8 upregulated TET3 expression by sponging miR-542-3p and miR-4701-5p by competing binding. Taken together, our results confirmed the oncogene role of lncRNA SNHG8 and discovered the underlying mechanism that lncRNA SNHG8 upregulated TET3 through the sponging or decaying of miR-542-3p and miR-4701-5p in human hepatocellular carcinoma, suggesting that lncRNA SNHG8 may serve as a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Function of the Long Noncoding RNAs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Classification, Molecular Mechanisms, and Significant Therapeutic Potentials

“…Actin filamentin-1 antisense RNA (AFAP-AS1), zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1-antisense 1 (ZEB-1-AS1), and HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) are correlated with poor prognosis of HCC, whereas reduced expressions of 18 lncRNAs, including growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (GAS5), XIST, and maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3), are correlated with an even worse prognosis of HCC [ 28 ]. By inducing the invasion and initiation of metastatic spread of HCC cells, lncRNA SNHG8 (small nucleolar RNA host gene 8), LINC00052, lncRNA W42 [ 67 ], LINC01225, PITPNA antisense RNA 1 (PITPNA-AS1), and ZEB1-AS1 exhibit oncogenic characteristics [ 120 , 174 , 175 ]. LncRNA-hPVT1, AFAP1-AS1, XIST, HOXA cluster antisense RNA 2 (HOXA-AS2), HOST2, and cervical carcinoma high-expressed lncRNA 1 (CCHE1) are examples of lncRNAs that can cause and promote cell proliferation, suppressing apoptosis of HCC cells [ 28 , 176 ].…”