Long Non-Coding RNA HOTAIR Promotes Cell Migration and Invasion via Down-Regulation of RNA Binding Motif Protein 38 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Chaofeng Ding²  Shaobing Cheng¹  Zhe Yang²  Zhen Lv¹  Heng Xiao¹  Chengli Du¹  Chuanhui Peng¹  Haiyang Xie²  Lin Zhou²  Jian Wu² 

[1] Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Public Health, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang, China; E-Mails:;Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang, China; E-Mails:

关键词: RNA binding motif protein 38;    HOX transcript antisense RNA;    hepatocellular carcinoma;    long non-coding RNA;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms15034060

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Long non-coding RNA HOTAIR exerts regulatory functions in various biological processes in cancer cells, such as proliferation, apoptosis, mobility, and invasion. We previously found that HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) is a negative prognostic factor and exhibits oncogenic activity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we aimed to investigate the role and molecular mechanism of HOTAIR in promoting HCC cell migration and invasion. Firstly, we profiled its gene expression pattern by microarray analysis of HOTAIR loss in Bel-7402 HCC cell line. The results showed that 129 genes were significantly down-regulated, while 167 genes were significantly up-regulated (fold change >2, p < 0.05). Bioinformatics analysis indicated that RNA binding proteins were involved in this biological process. HOTAIR suppression using RNAi strategy with HepG2 and Bel-7402 cells increased the mRNA and protein expression levels of RNA binding motif protein 38 (RBM38). Moreover, the expression levels of RBM38 in HCC specimens were significantly lower than paired adjacent noncancerous tissues. In addition, knockdown of HOTAIR resulted in a decrease of cell migration and invasion, which could be specifically rescued by down-regulation of RBM38. Taken together, HOTAIR could promote migration and invasion of HCC cells by inhibiting RBM38, which indicated critical roles of HOTAIR and RBM38 in HCC progression.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
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