LncRNA SNHG3 regulates laryngeal carcinoma proliferation and migration by modulating the miR-384/WEE1 axis

LncRNA SNHG3 (SNHG3) is involved in tumor development and progression, but little is known about how SNHG3 functions in laryngeal carcinoma (LC). Real time-PCR (RT-PCR) was used to estimate the expression of SNHG3 in LC tissues and cell lines TU212, TU686, and Hep-2. Cell viability, migration, and invasion were evaluated. Our results showed increased SNHG3 in LC tissues and cell lines. Loss of function of SNHG3 reduced cell viability, migration, and invasion of TU212 and TU686 cells. Western blot analyses demonstrated that the protein levels of MMP2 and MMP9 decreased after SNHG3 silencing. Additionally, bioinformatics software predicted that SNHG3 could sponge miR-384 at the 3'-UTR with complementary binding sites, which was validated by a dual-luciferase reporter assay. RT-PCR analysis revealed that knockdown of SNHG3 upregulated miR-384 expression and that overexpression of miR-384 decreased SNHG3. Furthermore, a dual-luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-384 could bind to the 3'-UTR of WEE1, and inhibition of miR-384 markedly increased WEE1 expression. The mRNA and protein levels of WEE1 were downregulated upon deletion of SNGH3. Suppression of WEE1 partly abolished the tumorigenic migration and invasion potential of the miR-384 inhibitor in migration and invasion. Inhibition of miR-384 partially reversed the biological activities of SNHG3 in TU212 and TU686 cells. Collectively, our results indicate that SNHG3 regulated LC cell migration and invasion via the miR-384/WEE1 axis.