LncRNA SLC7A11-AS1 promotes the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma by mediating KLF9 ubiquitination

• Published in: Neoplasma Vol. 70; no. 3; p. 361
• Main Authors: Zeng, Fan-Lin, Lin, Jie, Xie, Xing, Xie, Yuan-Kang, Zhang, Jian-Hong, Xu, Daofeng, He, Xiao, Liu, Feng En, Xie, Bin-Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Slovakia 01.06.2023
• Subjects: Animals; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - pathology; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation - genetics; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Humans; Liver Neoplasms - pathology; Mice; Mice, Nude; MicroRNAs - genetics; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt - metabolism; RNA, Long Noncoding - genetics; RNA, Long Noncoding - metabolism
• ISSN: 0028-2685
• DOI: 10.4149/neo_2023_230323N162

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor, which seriously threatens the life of patients. LncRNA SLC7A11-AS1 was reported to be abnormally expressed in HCC. Here, the functions and relative molecular regulatory mechanism of SLC7A11-AS1 in HCC were investigated. Nude mice and HCC cells were used as the experimental subjects. Knockdown or overexpression of exogenous genes was conducted in HCC cells. RT-qPCR, IHC, and western blot were employed to evaluate the abundance of genes and proteins. The malignant behaviors were evaluated using CCK-8, clone formation, wound-healing, and Transwell. The locations of SLC7A11-AS1 and KLF9 in cells were determined by FISH and IF assays. The total m6A level was evaluated by dot-blot assay. m6A modification of SLC7A11-AS1 was detected using RNA MeRIP. The interactions among molecules were validated by RIP, ChIP, dual luciferase reporter assay, and co-IP. SLC7A11-AS1 was elevated apparently in HCC cells and HCC tissues from mice. SLC7A11-AS1 silencing could suppress HCC progression, which was validated in in vivo and in vitro experiments. Furthermore, METTL3 mediated m6A modification of SLC7A11-AS1 to elevate its expression. In addition, SLC7A11-AS1 downregulated KLF9 expression by affecting STUB1-mediated ubiquitination degradation and KLF9 enhanced PHLPP2 expression to inactivate the AKT pathway. Eventually, rescue experiments revealed that KLF9 knockdown abolished SLC7A11-AS1 silencing-mediated suppression of HCC progression in vivo and in vitro. Our results unveiled that m6A-modified SLC7A11-AS1 promoted HCC progression by regulating the STUB1/KLF9/PHLPP2/AKT axis, indicating that targeting SLC7A11-AS1 might alleviate HCC progression.