lncRNA TMPO-AS1 Exerts Oncogenic Roles in HCC Through Regulating miR-320a/SERBP1 Axis

Zhenchang Wang; DanDan Huang; Jingjing Huang; Kunmei Nie; Xiaofan Li; Xiaojin Yang

doi:10.2147/OTT.S250355

lncRNA TMPO-AS1 Exerts Oncogenic Roles in HCC Through Regulating miR-320a/SERBP1 Axis

Onco Targets Ther. 2020 Jul 3:13:6539-6551. doi: 10.2147/OTT.S250355. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Zhenchang Wang^#¹, DanDan Huang^#², Jingjing Huang³, Kunmei Nie⁴, Xiaofan Li⁴, Xiaojin Yang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Spleen and Stomach Liver Disease, International Zhuang Hospital District of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
² Basic Medical Science College, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Spleen and Stomach Liver Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Graduate School, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Department of Infection Diseases, The Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Previous evidence have shown that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) TMPO antisense RNA 1 (TMPO-AS1) is involved in the aggressiveness of several cancers. Nevertheless, the precise functions of TMOP-AS1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still unresolved.

Materials and methods: The expressions of TMPO-AS1 and miR-320a were detected in HCC tissues and cells by qRT-RCR. The cell growth, migration and invasion were detected by colony formation, wound healing assay and Transwell assay, respectively. The targeting relation between miR-320a and TMPO-AS1 was predicted by bioinformatics analysis and identified by luciferase reporter gene as well as FISH assay. The expression of SERPINE1 MRNA Binding Protein 1 (SERBP1) was detected by Western blot. The growth of HCC cell was analyzed using transplanted tumor model.

Results: Currently, we revealed that TMPO-AS1 was overexpressed in clinical HCC samples and a panel of HCC cell lines. Clinically, a higher level of TMPO-AS1 was connected to the advanced stage of HCC and worse prognosis of patients. Depletion of TMPO-AS1 repressed HCC cell viability, migration ability and invasiveness. Nevertheless, upregulation of TMPO-AS1 caused opposite results. Further studies revealed that lncRNA TMPO-AS1 was largely located in the cytoplasm of HCC cell and sponge miR-320a, resulting in increasing the level of SERBP1 in HCC cell. Finally, TMPO-AS1 silencing suppressed tumor growth of HCC cell in vivo.

Conclusion: Collectively, our results suggested that TMPO-AS1 was a promoting factor for the aggressive behaviors of HCC cell.

Keywords: TMPO-AS1; hepatocellular carcinoma; invasion; miR-320a; migration.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Special Project for Shanghai General Hospital Combination of Chinese and Western Medicine (ZHYY-ZXYJHZX-201622), Medicine Research Project of The Fifth People’s Hospital of Shanghai (2016WYYJ02), Natural Science Research Project of Shanghai Minhang Science and Technology Committee (2018MHZ074).