Highly expressed long non-coding RNA NNT-AS1 promotes cell proliferation and invasion through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in cervical cancer

• Published in: Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy 2017-08, Vol.92, p.1128-1134
• Main Authors: Hua, Fangfang, Liu, Shanshan, Zhu, Lihong, Ma, Ning, Jiang, Shan, Yang, Jun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Animals; catenin; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Movement; Cell Proliferation; Cervical cancer; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Heterografts; Humans; Internal Medicine; Long non-coding RNA; Medical Education; Mice, Nude; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Invasiveness; NNT-AS1; RNA, Long Noncoding - genetics; RNA, Long Noncoding - metabolism; Time Factors; Tumor Burden; Up-Regulation; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - genetics; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - metabolism; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - pathology; Wnt Signaling Pathway; Wnt/β
• ISSN: 0753-3322; 1950-6007
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2017.03.057

Abstract Background Cervical cancer is the most common gynecological malignancies in women worldwide. The previous study showed that lncRNA NNT-AS1 could play an important role in tumor development and metastasis of colorectal cancer. However, little is known about the function of NNT-AS1 in cervical cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression profile of NNT-AS1 in cervical cancer and assess its possible molecular mechanism. Methods Relative expression levels of NNT-AS1 in cervical cancer tissues were determined by qRT-PCR. The biologic functions of NNT-AS1 in cervical cancer were explored by MTT assay, transwell assay and flow cytometric analysis in vitro. The influence of NNT-AS1 on tumorigenesis was measured by mice xenograft model. In addition, we evaluated the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by luciferase assay and western blot. Results Our results showed that NNT-AS1 expression in cervical cancer tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues the overexpression of NNT-AS1 was positively associated with advanced FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis, depth of cervical invasion and poorer overall survival. Function assays showed that NNT-AS1 inhibition could suppress cervical cancer cells proliferation and invasion ability in vitro as well as the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. In vivo mice xenograft model revealed that silencing NNT-AS1 could reduce tumor growth in nude mice. Conclusions The results of the current study suggested that NNT-AS1 might play an important role in cervical carcinogenesis and might serve as a potentially therapeutic target and prognostic marker in the treatment of cervical cancer.