Expression and function of long noncoding RNA SNHG12 in glioma cells

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of long noncoding RNA (LncRNA) small nucleolar host gene 12 (SNHG12) in glioma tissues and its effect on cell proliferation, invasion and migration in gliomas, and to explore underlying mechanisms. Methods The expression of SNHG12 in glioma tissues of different grades was analyzed within the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) Database and was verified by quantitative real-time PCR analysis within 27 glioma tissues and 5 normal brain tissues. The specific siRNA targeting SNHG12 was transfected into U251 and U87 glioma cells, and the change of SNHG12 expression was evaluated by qRT-PCR (quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR). Then CCK-8 assay was performed to detect the effect of SNHG12 on proliferation of glioma cells. Transwell assay was conducted to evaluate the migration and invasion efficiency of glioma cells. Pearson correlation analysis was used to detect the genes whose expression was correlated with SNHG12, and Western blot assays were performed to investigate changes of those genes after knockdown of SNHG12. Results SNHG12 expression was significantly up-regulated in glioma tissues compared with normal brain tissue (P<0.05), and the expression was lower in low-grade (WHO grade Ⅱ) glioma tissues than high-grade (WHO grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ) glioma tissues (both P<0.05). Moreover, knockdown of SNHG12 resulted in inhibition of proliferation, invasion and migration in U251 and U87 glioma cells (all P<0.05). Relative analysis within CGGA Database demonstrated that SNHG12 in glioma tissue was positively associated with CDK4, CDK6, Vimentin and MMP-9 (all P<0.05). Besides, those protein expressions were decreased after SNHG12 silencing in glioma cells. Conclusions LncRNA SNHG12 is overexpressed in glioma tissues and correlated with the malignant degree of glioma. SNHG12 could enhance the proliferation, invasion and migration of glioma cells through activating related proteins such as CDK4, CDK6, Vimentin and MMP-9. Therefore, SNHG12 may be a novel potential target for glioma therapy. Key words: Glioma; Cell proliferation; Cell migration; Long noncoding RNA; Small nucleular host gene 12