Long Non-Coding RNA SNHG14 Contributes to the Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma via Sponging miR-217

Thousands of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been functionally verified as crucial regulators of physiological processes and disease progressions, yet their roles in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been clearly illuminated.

We analyzed the expression of lncRNA-SNHG14 in TCGA data via bioinformatic analysis and detected its expression in HCC specimens by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Loss-of-function experiments were used to study the biological function of SNHG14 in HCC cells. RT-qPCR, Western blotting and dual-luciferase reporter assay were carried out to investigate the molecular mechanism of SNHG14 in HCC.

The upregulation of lncRNA-SNHG14 was observed in HCC tissues compared with normal tissues via RT-qPCR and bioinformatic analysis of TCGA data. Silencing of SNHG14 inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis in HCC cells. microRNA-217 (miR-217), the tumor-suppressive miRNA in HCC, was predicted and confirmed as a miRNA sponged by SNHG14 in HCC cells. Via downregulation of miR-217, SNHG14 increased the expression of several miR-217-related oncogenes and subsequently activated oncogene-related signaling pathways in HCC cells. In addition, inhibition of miR-217 reversed SNHG14 silencing induced decrease of cell proliferation and increase of cell apoptosis. Their association was verified in the published microarray dataset and the collected HCC samples.

In summary, SNHG14 is involved in the development of HCC via sponging miR-217 and it may be a biomarker for patients with HCC.