Investigating function of long noncoding RNA of HOTAIRM1 in progression of SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells.

Ovarian cancer is one of the most heterogeneous malignancies in the field of gynecologic oncology. Deregulation of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) is implicated in carcinogenesis. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the possible role of lncRNA of HOXA transcript antisense intergenic RNA myeloid-specific 1(HOTAIRM1) in progression of SKOV3 cells in ovarian cancer and also its underlying molecular mechanisms. HOTAIRM1 expression level will be measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in SKOV3 cells. For determining the effect of HOTAIRM1 silencing on progression of SKOV3 cells, siHOTAIRM1 will be designed and transfected into cells using a liposomal approach. MTT and trypan blue assays will be used to determine the effect of HOTAIRM1 silencing on cell proliferation. Apoptosis of the cells will be detected by flow cytometry. Furthermore, expressions of apoptosis-related genes and Wnt pathway-related proteins and genes will be analyzed by Western blot and real-time PCR. HOTAIRM1 was overexpressed in SKOV3 cells. Silencing of HOTAIRM1 alleviated cell proliferation, and increased cell apoptosis of SKOV3 cells. Moreover, siHOTAIRM1 significantly increased expression of pro-apoptotic agents, such as Bad and Bax, while it decreased expressions of Bid and Bcl-2 (anti-apoptotic agents). Also, silencing of HOTAIRM1 resulted in a suppressed expression of Wnt pathway-related proteins and also expression of its downstream target gene, matrix metalloproteinase 9(MMP9). Our findings provided new insights into function of lncRNA of HOTAIRM1 in progression of ovarian cancer by modulating Wnt pathway and its downstream target gene, MMP9.