AUTHOR=Mu Wentao , Guo Lingyu , Liu Yang , Yang Hui , Ning Shanglei , Lv Guoyue 

TITLE=Long Noncoding RNA SNHG1 Regulates LMNB2 Expression by Sponging miR-326 and Promotes Cancer Growth in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.784067

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2021.784067

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objective</title><p>The purpose of the study is to explore the potential competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network and investigate the molecular mechanism of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) <italic>small nucleolar RNA host gene 1</italic> (<italic>SNHG1</italic>) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>By analyzing the data of HCC in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we included differentially expressed lncRNA and microRNA (miRNA) profiles and constructed ceRNA networks related to the prognosis of HCC patients. qRT-PCR, Western blotting, 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), transwell assay, and the nude mouse model were employed to test the effects of <italic>SNHG1</italic> and <italic>LMNB2</italic> on tumor proliferation and growth <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic>.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>In the study, we identified 115 messenger RNAs (mRNAs), 12 lncRNAs, and 37 miRNAs by intersecting differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in TCGA and StarBase databases. Then, <italic>SNHG1</italic>–<italic>miR-326</italic>–<italic>LMNB2</italic> pathway came into notice after further survival analysis and hub gene screening. Our results showed that <italic>SNHG1</italic> expression was upregulated significantly in HCC tissues and cell lines. Downregulation of both <italic>LMNB2</italic>, the target of <italic>miR-326</italic> in HCC, and <italic>SNHG1</italic> inhibited tumor proliferation and growth <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic>. Furthermore, <italic>SNHG1</italic> could regulate <italic>LMNB2</italic> expression through binding to <italic>miR-326</italic> in HCC cell lines.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p><italic>SNHG1</italic> is a promising prognostic factor in HCC, and the <italic>SNHG1</italic>–<italic>miR-326</italic>–<italic>LMNB2</italic> axis may be a potential therapeutic target for HCC.</p></sec>