Long noncoding RNA HOXC-AS3 enhances the progression of cervical cancer via activating ErbB signaling pathway

Emerging evidence reveals that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) contribute to human tumorigenesis. Nevertheless, the function of HOXC cluster antisense RNA 3 (HOXC-AS3) in human cervical cancer (CC) remains largely unknown. The levels of HOXC-AS3, miR-105-5p and SOS1 in CC tissues and cells were monitored by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot (WB). Gain- and loss-of-function experiments were conducted to verify the function of HOXC-AS3 and miR-105-5p in CC cells. Meanwhile, cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion were examined by the cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) experiment, colony formation assay, flow cytometry and Transwell assay. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay were carried out to test the regulatory interaction of HOXC-AS3, miR-105-5p and SOS1. In addition, in vivo experiment was performed to certain the role of HOXC-AS3 in tumorigenesis of CC. HOXC-AS3 was overexpressed in CC tissues (vs. adjacent normal tissues) and CC cells. Besides, the higher HOXC-AS3 profile was associated with the poorer clinical prognosis of CC patients. Overexpression of HOXC-AS3 promoted cell growth, migration and invasion, hampered apoptosis, whereas knocking down HOXC-AS3 exhibited the reverse effects. MiR-105-5p was a downstream target of HOXC-AS3, and it mediated the HOXC-AS3-induced oncogenic effects. Mechanistically, the bioinformatic analysis illustrated that SOS1 was targeted by miR-105-5p. Up-regulating SOS1 heightened the growth, migration and invasion of CC cells by enhancing the ErbB signaling pathway, which was reversed by miR-105-5p. Up-regulated HOXC-AS3 aggravates CC by promoting SOS1 expression via targeting miR-105-5p.