Background: This study aimed to investigate the correlation of lncRNA RP5-916L7.2 with tumor features of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC), and its effect on cells proliferation and apoptosis as well as its target miRNAs in TSCC cells.
Methods: 30 TSCC patients underwent surgery were consecutively enrolled, tumor tissue and paired adjacent tissue were obtained for lncRNAs determination. Blank mimic (NC(+)), lncRNA RP5-916L7.2 mimic (RP5-916L7.2(+)), blank inhibitor (NC(-)), lncRNA RP5-916L7.2 inhibitor (RP5-916L7.2(-)), lncRNA RP5-916L7.2 inhibitor/miR-328-5p inhibitor (RP5-916L7.2(-)/miR-328(-)) and lncRNA RP5-916L7.2 inhibitor/miR-939-5p inhibitor (RP5-916L7.2(-)/miR-939(-)) plasmids were transfected into Tca-8113 cells. qPCR assay, CCK-8 assay, AV/PI assay were performed to detect the miRNA/lncRNA expression, cells proliferation and cells apoptosis, respectively.
Results: lncRNA RP5-916L7.2 was increased in tumor tissue compared with paired adjacent tissue, and correlated with higher T stage, N stage as well as TNM stage in TSCC patients. In vitro experiments revealed that lncRNA RP5-916L7.2 promoted cells proliferation and repressed cells apoptosis in Tca-8113 cells. Subsequently, we selected top five potential target miRNAs of lncRNA RP5-916L7.2, and found that lncRNA RP5-916L7.2 reversely regulated the levels of miR-328-5p and miR-939-5p in Tca-8113 cells. Thus, we conducted rescue experiments, which showed that lncRNA RP5-916L7.2 enhanced cells proliferation and inhibited cells apoptosis through targeting miR-328-5p and miR-939-5p in Tca-8113 cells.
Conclusions: lncRNA RP5-916L7.2 was up regulated in tumor tissue and positively correlated with tumor stage, and promoted cells proliferation while inhibited cells apoptosis by targeting miR-328-5p and miR-939-5p in TSCC.
Keywords: Apoptosis; Proliferation; Tongue squamous cell carcinoma; lncRNA RP5-916L7.2; miR-328; miR-939.
Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.