Abstract
HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) is associated with the growth and metastasis of many human tumors, but its biological roles in malignant melanoma remain unclear. In this study, we show that HOTAIR is overexpressed in melanoma tissues and cells, especially in metastatic melanoma. High HOTAIR levels correlate with poor prognosis in melanoma patients. We also determined that HOTAIR functions as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-152-3p. miR-152-3p was decreased and acted as a tumor suppressor in melanoma, and c-MET was the functional target of miR-152-3p. Furthermore, HOTAIR promotes the growth and metastasis of melanoma cells by competitively binding miR-152-3p, which functionally liberates c-MET mRNA and results in the activation of the downstream PI3k/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. We determined that HOTAIR acts as a ceRNA to promote malignant melanoma progression by sponging miR-152-3p. This finding elucidates a new mechanism for HOTAIR in melanoma development and provides a potential therapeutic target for melanoma patients.
Highlights
Malignant melanoma, a cancer that originates from melanocytes, is the most aggressive type of skin tumor [1, 2]
We determined that HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) functions as a competing endogenous RNA for miR-152-3p. miR-152-3p was decreased and acted as a tumor suppressor in melanoma, and c-MET was the functional target of miR-152-3p
HOTAIR is significantly overexpressed in various types of cancer and promotes breast, pancreatic and hepatocellular carcinoma cell metastasis [13, 18, 19, 22]
Summary
A cancer that originates from melanocytes, is the most aggressive type of skin tumor [1, 2]. The global incidence of malignant melanoma has been increasing in recent years [3, 4]. This type of tumor has a poor prognosis and is the primary cause of skin cancerrelated death, mainly due to its metastatic phenotype and lack of efficient biomarkers [5]. The aberrant expression of lncRNAs contributes to different biological www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget processes in melanoma [15, 16]. The role of only a few lncRNAs in the progression of melanoma have been identified
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