Fuqiang Wang1, Huili Yang, Zhigang Deng, Yongjie Su, QinLiang Fang, Zhenyu Yin. 1. Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Chronic Liver Disease and Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recent studies reveal that long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) play critical roles in the proliferation and migration of human cancer. Previous report has shown that LncRNA HOXA-AS2 was involved in carcinoma processes. However, the expression and biological function of HOXA-AS2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are poorly understood. METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect the expression of HOXA-AS2 in HCC tissues and cell lines. The relation between lncRNA HOXA-AS2 expression and clinicopathological characteristics was assessed by chi-square test. The prognosis was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method, and compared differences between the two groups by log-rank test. The biological function of HOXA-AS2 on HCC cells were determined both in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: In the present study, we found that HOXA-AS2 expression was increased in HCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues and high HOXA-AS2 expression was associated with bigger tumor size, advanced tumor stage, and shorter survival time. Knockdown of HOXA-AS2 significantly inhibited HCC cell proliferation and invasion and resulted in an increase of apoptosis. Furthermore, inhibition of HOXA-AS2 in HCC cells significantly repressed tumorigenicity in nude mice. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that the inhibition of HOXA-AS2 in HCC cells significantly inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo, which might provide a potential possibility for targeted therapy of HCC.
BACKGROUND: Recent studies reveal that long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) play critical roles in the proliferation and migration of humancancer. Previous report has shown that LncRNA HOXA-AS2 was involved in carcinoma processes. However, the expression and biological function of HOXA-AS2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are poorly understood. METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect the expression of HOXA-AS2 in HCC tissues and cell lines. The relation between lncRNA HOXA-AS2 expression and clinicopathological characteristics was assessed by chi-square test. The prognosis was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method, and compared differences between the two groups by log-rank test. The biological function of HOXA-AS2 on HCC cells were determined both in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: In the present study, we found that HOXA-AS2 expression was increased in HCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues and high HOXA-AS2 expression was associated with bigger tumor size, advanced tumor stage, and shorter survival time. Knockdown of HOXA-AS2 significantly inhibited HCC cell proliferation and invasion and resulted in an increase of apoptosis. Furthermore, inhibition of HOXA-AS2 in HCC cells significantly repressed tumorigenicity in nude mice. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that the inhibition of HOXA-AS2 in HCC cells significantly inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo, which might provide a potential possibility for targeted therapy of HCC.