LncSNHG14 promotes ovarian cancer by targeting microRNA-125a-5p

This study aims to investigate whether small nucleolar RNA host gene 14 (SNHG14) is involved in the development of ovarian cancer through affecting cell proliferation and cell cycle progression by regulating microRNA-125a-5p.

We detected the mRNA expressions of SNHG14 and microRNA-125a-5p by quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) in ovarian cancer tissues and normal ovarian tissues. Their expression levels in ovarian cancer cell lines were examined as well. Meanwhile, the regulatory effects of SNHG14 and microRNA-125a-5p on cell proliferation and cell cycle were detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry, respectively. The binding relationship between microRNA-125a-5p and SNHG14 was examined by the Luciferase reporter gene assay. It was further confirmed by recovery experiments whether SHHG14 can affect the proliferation and cycle of ovarian cancer cells by regulating microRNA-125a-5p.

SNHG14 was highly expressed in ovarian cancer tissues and cell lines relative to controls. The survival curve analysis showed that the AUC was 0.8681 and Cutoff value was 2.33. The five-year survival rate of the high SNHG14 expression group was markedly lower than that of the low SNHG14 expression group. In addition, we found that SNHG14 could accelerate cell proliferation and cell cycle progression of ovarian cancer cells. Dual-Luciferase reporter gene experiments indicated that SNHG14 could bind to microRNA-125a-5p, which was lowly expressed in ovarian cancer patients. However, the overexpression of microRNA-125a-5p reversed the promotive effect of SNHG14 on the proliferation and cell cycle of ovarian cancer cells. Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay also indicated that DHX33 was a target gene of microRNA-125a-5p. The overexpression of DHX33 could attenuate the inhibitory effect of microRNA-125a-5p on cell proliferation and cell cycle in SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cells.

High expression of SNHG14 can promote the ovarian cancer cell proliferation and accelerate the cell cycle by sponging microRNA-125a-5p to regulate DHX33 expression.