LncRNA SNHG20 promotes cell proliferation and invasion by suppressing miR-217 in ovarian cancer

Genes Genomics. 2021 Sep;43(9):1095-1104. doi: 10.1007/s13258-021-01138-4. Epub 2021 Jul 24.

Abstract

Background: Ovarian cancer is the most common female gynecological malignancy. SNHG20, as a long non-coding RNA, has been proven to be an important regulator in the occurrence and development of various tumors. However, the potential mechanism of SNHG20 in ovarian cancer is unclear.

Objective: The present study was aimed to investigate the functions and mechanisms of SNHG20 in ovarian cancer.

Methods: The expression of SNHG20 and miR-217 in ovarian cancer tissues and cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR. CCK-8 assay was used to measure cell proliferation in transfected cells. The transwell assay was used to detect the relative invasion rate of transfected cells. The putative binding sites between SNHG20 and miR-217 were predicted by software LncBase v.2, and the interaction between SNHG20 and miR-217 was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assays and RIP assay. The rescue experiments were used to illustrate potential mechanisms.

Results: SNHG20 was upregulated in ovarian cancer tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of SNHG20 promoted ovarian cancer cell proliferation and invasion. MiR-217 was downregulated in ovarian cancer tissues and cells, and was negatively regulated by SNHG20. Moreover, miR-217 overexpression inhibited ovarian cancer cell proliferation and invasion. Furthermore, miR-217 mimic reversed the inhibitory effect of SNHG20 overexpression on the biological behavior of ovarian cancer cells.

Conclusions: SNHG20 promoted cell proliferation and invasion by sponging miR-217 in ovarian cancer. These results suggested that SNHG20 and miR-217 might provide new targets for therapeutic application in ovarian cancer.

Keywords: Invasion; LncRNA SNHG20; MiR-217; Ovarian cancer; Proliferation.

MeSH terms

  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Movement / genetics
  • Cell Proliferation / genetics*
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / genetics
  • Humans
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness / genetics
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness / pathology
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / pathology
  • Protein Binding / genetics
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / genetics*

Substances

  • MIRN217 microRNA, human
  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Long Noncoding
  • long non-coding RNA SNHG20, human