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LncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 Regulates miR-21/PTEN Axis to Affect Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Proliferation and
Gang Yan1, Zhangcai Wan1, Yechao Zhong1
1Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical College, No. 31 Longhua Road, Longhua District, Haikou City, Hainan Province, 570105, P.R. China.
Abstract:
LncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 has been reported to be upregulated and plays an oncogenic role in papillary thyroid cancer. However, analysis of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset revealed MCM3AP-AS1 downregulation in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). This observation encouraged us to analyze the function of MCM3AP-AS1 in CSCC. The research subjects of the present study were 62 CSCC patients (42 to 68 years; 53.7 ± 6.8 years). Based on medical records, there were 51 HPV-positive cases of and 11 HPV-negative cases. Gene expression was analyzed by RT-qPCR. The interactions among MCM3AP-AS1, miR-21, and PTEN were explored by overexpression assays followed by RT-qPCR and Western blot. CCK-8 cell proliferation analysis and cell apoptosis analysis were applied to study the roles of MCM3AP-AS1, miR-21, and PTEN in regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis in CSCC. We found that MC-M3AP-AS1 was downregulated in CSCC patients, and its low level was closely correlated with patients' poor survival. MCM3AP-AS1 could directly interact with miR-21. However, miR-21 overexpression failed to affect MCM3AP-AS1 expression. Interestingly, MCM3AP-AS1 overexpression decreased the expression of PTEN, which is a target of miR-21. Cell proliferation and apoptosis analysis showed that MCM3AP-AS1 and PTEN overexpression increased apoptosis but decreased proliferation of CSCC cells. MiR-21 overexpression played an opposite role and attenuated the effects of MCM3AP-AS1 overexpression. Therefore, MCM3AP-AS1 may regulate the miR-21/PTEN axis to regulate CSCC cell proliferation and apoptosis.
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