LncRNA LUCAT1 promotes proliferation of ovarian cancer cells by regulating miR-199a-5p expression

H.-Z. Liu, G.-Y. Liu, W.-W. Pang, H. Zhang, Z.-J. Zeng, H.-J. Wang

Department of Obstetrics, Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, China. whj2010wy@163.com

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• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the biological effect of long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) lung cancer-associated transcript 1 (LUCAT1) in the development of ovarian cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was utilized to detect the expression levels of lncRNA LUCAT1 in three human ovarian cancer cell lines (CaoV-3, SK-OV-3 and HO-8910) and the normal human ovarian surface epithelial cell line (IOSE80). Small interfering RNAs against lncRNA LUCAT1 (si-LUCAT1) were transfected into SK-OV-3 cells. Transfection efficiency of si-LUCAT1 was verified via RT-qPCR. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assays were performed to test the effect of silencing lncRNA LUCAT1 on SK-OV-3 cell proliferation. The apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry. The miRcode database was searched to predict potential microRNAs (miRNAs) binding lncRNA LUCAT1. It was found that lncRNA LUCAT1 contained a highly conserved binding site of miR-199a-5p in the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR). Subsequently, the targeting relationship between them was determined through Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay and RT-qPCR analysis.

RESULTS: LncRNA LUCAT1 was highly expressed in three human ovarian cancer cell lines compared to that in normal ovarian surface epithelial cell line (p<0.05). The cell proliferation rate in SK-OV-3 cells with lncRNA LUCAT1 knockdown was remarkably lower in comparison to that in control group. Moreover, colony formation assay also revealed that the number of cell clones decreased significantly after knockdown of lncRNA LUCAT1 compared to that in control group (p<0.05). In addition, the apoptosis rate was distinctly elevated in the lncRNA LUCAT1 silencing group (p<0.05). Furthermore, a highly conserved binding site of miR-199a-5p was found in the 3′-UTR of lncRNA LUCAT1. Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay exhibited that the Luciferase activity of LUCAT1-wt was significantly reduced after overexpression of miR-199a-5p (p<0.05), while that of LUCAT1-mut was unchangeable. Further analysis via RT-qPCR suggested that miR-199a-5p overexpression significantly decreased the expression level of lncRNA LUCAT1 (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA LUCAT1 is overexpressed in ovarian cancer cells, which may target miR-199a-5p to exert its effects on driving the malignant development of ovarian cancer.

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