lncRNA NR2F1-AS1 Regulates miR-17/SIK1 Axis to Suppress the Invasion and Migration of Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells

• DOI: 10.1007/s43032-020-00149-y
• Publication Date: 2020-02-14T19:03:47Z
• Authors: Jie Peng; Fang Hou; Weipei Zhu; Jie Li; Zhenghua Teng
• Keywords: Adult; 0303 health sciences; COUP Transcription Factor I; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Middle Aged; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; 3. Good health; MicroRNAs; 03 medical and health sciences; Cell Movement; Cell Line, Tumor; Biomarkers, Tumor; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Humans; Female; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Aged

lncRNA NR2F1-AS1 has been reported to be upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma and plays oncogenic roles. Through the analysis of TCGA dataset, we observed the downregulation of NR2F1-AS1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). This study was performed to analyze the functionality of NR2F1-AS1 in CSCC. It was observed that NR2F1-AS1 was significantly downregulated in tumor tissues than in paired non-tumor tissues in CSCC patients. Levels of NR2F1-AS1 decreased with increased in clinical stages. NR2F1-AS1 can directly interact with miR-17. Overexpression experiments showed that NR2F1-AS1 and miR-17 have no significant effects on the expression of each other. Interestingly, NR2F1-AS1 overexpression led to the upregulation of SIK1, a target of miR-17. Transwell assay analysis revealed decreased invasion and migration rates of CSCC cells after NR2F1-AS1 and SIK1 overexpression. miR-17 overexpression played an opposite role and reduced the effects of NR2F1-AS1 and SIK1 overexpression. Therefore, NR2F1-AS1 regulates miR-17/SIK1 axis to suppress the invasion and migration of CSCC cells.