LncRNA SNHG8 promotes the development and chemo-resistance of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Y. Song, L. Zou, J. Li, Z.-P. Shen, Y.-L. Cai, X.-D. Wu

Department of Gastroenterology, Yancheng City No. 1 People’s Hospital, Yancheng, China. hnjsycwxd@163.com

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• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of small nucleolar RNA host gene 8 (SNHG8) in the pathogenesis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and to explore the possible underlying mechanism.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: SNHG8 expression in 40 pairs of pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues and para-cancerous tissues, as well as 10 normal pancreas tissues was detected by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Survival analysis was conducted to explore the correlation between SNHG8 expression and the prognosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients. After the transfection of SNHG8 siRNA into pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells, the proliferation and cell cycle were detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Meanwhile, cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry and Western blot. The regulatory effect of SNHG8 on the chemo-sensitivity of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells was assessed by CCK-8 assay.

RESULTS: The expression of SNHG8 in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that of para-cancerous tissues and normal pancreatic tissues. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients with higher expression of SHNG8 presented shorter overall survival than those with lower expression. Meanwhile, SNHG8 expression was correlated with tumor stage and differentiation level, whereas not correlated with age, sex, tumor location and lymph node metastasis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients. In vitro results showed that SNHG8 knockdown significantly decreased the proliferative ability, prolonged G0/G1 phase and increased the apoptosis of Hs766T and PANC-1 cells. Western blot results elucidated that SNHG8 knockdown remarkably downregulated the protein expression levels of cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP in Hs766T and PANC-1 cells. In addition, SNHG8 significantly decreased the chemo-sensitivity of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells.

CONCLUSIONS: SNHG8 is highly expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues and is negatively correlated with its prognosis. Moreover, SNHG8 promotes cell proliferation and cell cycle, whereas inhibits cell apoptosis and reduces the chemo-sensitivity of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells.

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