LncRNA MSC-AS1 aggravates nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by targeting miR-524-5p/nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 2 (NR4A2)

• Published in: Cancer cell international Vol. 20; no. 1; p. 138
• Main Authors: Yao, Hongchao, Yang, Like, Tian, Linli, Guo, Yan, Li, Yushan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 28.04.2020; BMC
• Subjects: Antibodies; Antisense RNA; Apoptosis; Bioinformatics; Caspase-3; Cell proliferation; Cervical cancer; Cholecystokinin; Gene expression; Head & neck cancer; Laboratories; Medical prognosis; Medical research; Mesenchyme; Metastasis; MicroRNAs; miR-524-5p; miRNA; MSC-AS1; Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Non-coding RNA; NPC; NR4A2; Primary Research; Proteins; Throat cancer; United States > US; China; Japan; Germany; NPC; NR4A2; MSC-AS1; miR-524-5p
• ISSN: 1475-2867; 1475-2867
• DOI: 10.1186/s12935-020-01202-1

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a subtype of head and neck cancer with dismal prognosis and high relapse rate. The role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in NPC has become a research hotspot in recent years. This study aimed to interrogate the function and mechanism of lncRNA MSC antisense RNA 1 (MSC-AS1) in NPC. MSC-AS1 level in NPC tissues and cells were detected by RT-qPCR. Function of MSC-AS1 in NPC cells was assessed by CCK-8, EdU, TUNEL, caspase-3 activity, and transwell invasion assay. Interaction of microRNA-524-5p (miR-524-5p) with MSC-AS1 and nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 2 (NR4A2) was determined by RIP and luciferase reporter assays. MSC-AS1 was upregulated in NPC tissues and cells. Functional assays indicated that MSC-AS1 exacerbated cell proliferation, hindered apoptosis, and facilitated invasion and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in NPC. Mechanistically, MSC-AS1 sequestered miR-524-5p to upregulate NR4A2 expression in NPC cells. Finally, NR4A2 was conformed as an oncogene in NPC, and overexpressed NR4A2 could restore MSC-AS1 knockdown-mediated inhibition on NPC progression. Our study firstly showed that lncRNA MSC-AS1 aggravated NPC progression by sponging miR-524-5p to increase NR4A2 expression, indicating MSC-AS1 as a novel target for the lncRNA-targeted therapy in NPC.