LncRNA SNHG20 promotes migration and invasion of ovarian cancer via modulating the microRNA-148a/ROCK1 axis

• Published in: Journal of ovarian research Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 168 - 13
• Main Authors: Yang, Qi, Dong, Yu-Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 26.11.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Animals; Antisense RNA; Apoptosis; Binding sites; Cancer therapies; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell growth; Cell Line; Cell Movement; Cell proliferation; Development and progression; Epithelial cells; Female; Flow cytometry; Health aspects; Humans; Male; Medical prognosis; Metastases; Metastasis; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Nude; MicroRNA; microRNA-148a; MicroRNAs; miRNA; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Non-coding RNA; Nucleoli; Ovarian cancer; Ovarian Neoplasms - genetics; Ovarian Neoplasms - metabolism; Ovarian Neoplasms - pathology; Prognosis; Proteins; rho-Associated Kinases - genetics; rho-Associated Kinases - metabolism; RNA, Long Noncoding; ROCK1; SNHG20; snoRNA; Tumors; Women; Wound healing; Xenografts; China; microRNA-148a; ROCK1; SNHG20; Ovarian cancer
• ISSN: 1757-2215; 1757-2215
• DOI: 10.1186/s13048-021-00889-8

Ovarian cancer (OC) is characterized by early metastasis and poor prognosis, which threatens the health of women worldwide. Small nucleolar RNA host gene 20 (SNHG20), a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), has been verified to be significantly up-regulated in several tumors, including OC. MicroRNA-148a (miR-148a)/rho-kinase1 (ROCK1) axis plays an important role in the modulation of tumor development. However, whether SNHG20 can regulate OC progression through miR-148a/ROCK1 axis remains unclear. Normal human ovarian epithelial cell line and four OC cell lines were adopted for in vitro experiments. Real-time PCR was performed to assess the levels of SNHG20 and miR-148a. OC cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration were detected using clone formation, flow cytometry, transwell, and wound healing assays, respectively. Tumor xenograft assay was applied to evaluate the effect of SNHG20 on tumor growth in vivo. Significant higher expression of SNHG20 was observed in OC cell lines. SNHG20 markedly promoted the invasion, migration, proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of OC cells. SNHG20 enhanced ROCK1 expression by sponging miR-148a, and the direct binding between SNHG20/ROCK1 and miR-148a was identified. SNHG20 promoted invasion and migration of OC via targeting miR-148a/ROCK1 axis. The present research may provide a novel insight for the therapeutic strategies of OC.