A positive feedback regulation between long noncoding RNA SNHG1 and YAP1 modulates growth and metastasis in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is the second highest incidence among the head and neck malignancies. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) small nucleolar RNA host gene 1 (SNHG1) functions as an oncogene in various human cancers. However, the biological functions and molecular mechanisms of SNHG1 in LSCC have not been reported. In this study, we found that lncRNA SNHG1 is significantly upregulated in LSCC and associated with prognosis of LSCC patients. Knockdown of SNHG1 inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion and induced cell apoptosis. In addition, knockdown of SNHG1 inhibits LSCC growth and metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, SNHG1 promotes YAP1 expression and Hippo signaling activity by competitively sponging miR-375. Moreover, YAP1 could occupy the SNHG1 promoter to enhance its transcription, suggesting that there exists a positive feedback regulation between YAP1 and SNHG1. Collectively, our study first elucidates the mechanism of SNHG1-mediated malignant phenotypes through evoking the miR-375/YAP1/Hippo signalling axis, which provides a novel target for LSCC treatment.