Long Non-Coding RNA PAXBP1-AS1 Is Associated with Hearing Loss in Vestibular Schwannoma via Targeting miR-124-3p

Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is a common benign intracranial tumor that often leads to progressive hearing loss (HL). Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays an important regulatory role in HL. This study aims to explore the clinical significance and potential regulatory mechanisms of lncRNA PAXBP1-AS1.

The PAXBP1-AS1 was screened through the GSE174389 dataset. Clinical data and serum were collected from 36 patients with VS-related non-HL and 47 patients with VS-related HL. The level of PAXBP1-AS1 in serum was determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess its clinical significance. In vitro experiments, the expressions of PAXBP1-AS1, miR-124-3p, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were detected by RT-qPCR. Cell viability and apoptosis were detected by Cell Counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry. The regulatory mechanism was speculated by target prediction.

LncRNA PAXBP1-AS1 was downregulated in the GSE174389 dataset. PAXBP1-AS1 was expressed at low levels in VS patients with HL. The 8ROC analysis demonstrated that PAXBP1-AS1 distinguished between the HL and non-HL groups in patients with VS. Overexpression of PAXBP1-AS1 could inhibit cell activity, promote cell apoptosis, and suppress the expression of TNF-α, while silencing PAXBP1-AS1 could enhance cell activity, inhibit cell apoptosis, and promote the expression of TNF-α. miR-124-3p can target and negatively regulate PAXBP1-AS1. The miR-124-3p mimic can partially reverse the effect of overexpressing PAXBP1-AS1.

PAXBP1-AS1, as a diagnostic biomarker in VS-related HL, can affect HEI-193 cell viability, apoptosis, and inflammatory level by targeting and negatively regulating the miR-124-3p.