lncRNA NR2F1-AS1 Regulates miR-17/SIK1 Axis to Suppress the Invasion and Migration of Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells.

lncRNA NR2F1-AS1 has been reported to be upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma and plays oncogenic roles. Through the analysis of TCGA dataset, we observed the downregulation of NR2F1-AS1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). This study was performed to analyze the functionality of NR2F1-AS1 in CSCC. It was observed that NR2F1-AS1 was significantly downregulated in tumor tissues than in paired non-tumor tissues in CSCC patients. Levels of NR2F1-AS1 decreased with increased in clinical stages. NR2F1-AS1 can directly interact with miR-17. Overexpression experiments showed that NR2F1-AS1 and miR-17 have no significant effects on the expression of each other. Interestingly, NR2F1-AS1 overexpression led to the upregulation of SIK1, a target of miR-17. Transwell assay analysis revealed decreased invasion and migration rates of CSCC cells after NR2F1-AS1 and SIK1 overexpression. miR-17 overexpression played an opposite role and reduced the effects of NR2F1-AS1 and SIK1 overexpression. Therefore, NR2F1-AS1 regulates miR-17/SIK1 axis to suppress the invasion and migration of CSCC cells.