Long non‑coding RNA MIR4713HG aggravates malignant behaviors in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma via binding with microRNA let‑7c‑5p

Int J Mol Med. 2021 May;47(5):84. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2021.4917. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

Abstract

Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) is one of the most aggressive pathological types of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and presents with rapid local invasion and metastasis. The present study confirmed that the long non‑coding (lnc) RNA MIR4713HG was markedly upregulated in both OTSCC tissues and cell lines and associated with poor survival. The present study performed a series of experiments to investigate the impact of MIR4713HG on OTSCC and revealed that upregulation of MIR4713HG had a crucial role in promoting cell proliferation and metastasis of OTSCC cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. By applying bioinformatics analyses, micro RNA let‑7c‑5p was observed to physically bind with MIR4713HG, and the knockdown of let‑7c‑5p could counteract the influence of MIR4713HG on OTSCC. Furthermore, the present study demonstrated that let‑7c‑5p performed its regulating role in OTSCC via affecting the expression level of transmembrane channel like 7 (TMC7). In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that lncRNA MIR4713HG acted as a pro‑tumor factor facilitating cell proliferation and metastasis of OTSCC via affecting the let‑7c‑5p/TMC7 signaling pathway, which presents as a promising therapeutic target in OTSCC.

Keywords: OTSC; lncRNA MIR4713HG; let-7c-5p; TMC7; metastasis.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Movement / genetics
  • Cell Proliferation / genetics
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / secondary
  • Male
  • Membrane Proteins / genetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism*
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / genetics*
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / metabolism
  • Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck / genetics
  • Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck / pathology*
  • Tongue Neoplasms / genetics
  • Tongue Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Membrane Proteins
  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Long Noncoding
  • TMC8 protein, human
  • mirnlet7 microRNA, human

Grants and funding

The present study was financially supported by the Guangzhou Science and Technology Program Key Projects (grant no. 201802020018), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant no. 2019M652979), the Guangdong Science and Technology Program (grant no. 2019A1515010408), the Program of Stomatologic Hospital, Southern Medical University, China (grant no. PY2019003) and the Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Guangdong Province of China (grant no. B2017103).