Long noncoding RNA SOX21‐AS1 promotes cervical cancer progression by competitively sponging miR‐7/VDAC1

Abstract

Growing evidence has shown that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play crucial roles in cervical cancer. Dy000sregulation of lncRNA SOX21 antisense RNA 1 (SOX21‐AS1) has been reported in several tumors. However, its expression pattern and potential biological function in cervical cancer (CC) have not been investigated. In this study, we first reported that SOX21‐AS1 expression was significantly upregulated in both CC tissues and cell lines. High expression of SOX21‐AS1 was found to be significantly correlated with Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, lymph node metastasis and depth of cervical invasion. Further clinical assay confirmed that high SOX21‐AS1 expression was associated with shorter overall survival and could be used as a potential prognostic biomarker for CC patients. Functional investigation showed that knockdown of SOX21‐AS1 suppressed CC cells proliferation, migration, and invasion, as well as epithelial to mesenchymal transition progress. Furthermore, our data showed that microRNA‐7 (miR‐7) interacted with SOX21‐AS1 by directly targeting the miRNA‐binding site in the SOX21‐AS1 sequence, and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction results showed overexpression of SOX21‐AS1 decreased the levels of miR‐7 in CC cells. Moreover, we confirmed that miR‐7 directly targeted the 3′‐untranslated region of voltage dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1). Final in vitro assay suggested that in CC cells with SOX21‐AS1, VDAC1 overexpression resulted in an increase of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Overall, our findings illuminate how SOX21‐AS1 formed a regulatory network to confer an oncogenic function in CC and SOX21‐AS1 could be regarded as an efficient therapeutic target and potential biomarker for CC patients.

RETRACTED: Long Noncoding RNA FOXD2-AS1 Promotes the Malignancy of Cervical Cancer by Sponging MicroRNA-760 and Upregulating Hepatoma-Derived Growth Factor

“…They can function as molecular sponges, scaffolds, and guides for interactions with proteins, mRNAs, or microRNAs (miRNAs), thereby regulating the expression of target genes (Anastasiadou et al, 2018). Accumulated evidence indicates that many lncRNAs are aberrantly expressed in cervical cancer (Chen et al, 2019;Zhang X. et al, 2019). Alterations in the expression of lncRNAs are involved in cervical carcinogenesis and cancer progression by playing tumorsuppressive or oncogenic roles (Aalijahan and Ghorbian, 2019).…”

LncRNA HAND2‐AS1 represses cervical cancer progression by interaction with transcription factor E2F4 at the promoter of C16orf74

“…Therefore, the pathogenesis of cervical cancer needs to be explored further to discover more therapeutic targets for cervical cancer treatment. LncRNAs have been found to participate in tumorigenesis and play significant roles in cervical cancer 25,26 . E2F4 was identified to be critical in the regulation of cell progression in various cancers and found to be related to cervical cancer 16 .…”

<p>Long Non-Coding RNA TMPO-AS1 Promotes Cervical Cancer Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion by Regulating miR-143-3p/ZEB1 Axis</p>

“…14 The alteration in the expression of these lncRNAs not only has obvious effects on the biological behaviors such as proliferation, migration and invasion of cervical cancer cells, but is closely related to the tumor size, angiogenesis, Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis of cervical cancer. 1,15 Thus, regulation of certain lncRNAs can represent a novel therapeutic strategy in the treatment of cervical cancer. For instance, Zhang et al 15 recently reported that lncRNA SOX21 antisense RNA 1 (SOX21-AS1) was significantly upregulated in both cervical cancer tissues and cell lines and high expression of SOX21-AS1 was correlated with FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis and depth of cervical invasion.…”

“…1,15 Thus, regulation of certain lncRNAs can represent a novel therapeutic strategy in the treatment of cervical cancer. For instance, Zhang et al 15 recently reported that lncRNA SOX21 antisense RNA 1 (SOX21-AS1) was significantly upregulated in both cervical cancer tissues and cell lines and high expression of SOX21-AS1 was correlated with FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis and depth of cervical invasion. They also found that SOX21-AS1 promoted cervical cancer progression and could be used as a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with cervical cancer.…”