SNHG17 Serves as an Oncogenic lncRNA by Regulating the miR-361-3p/STC2 Axis in Rectal Cancer

Fuda Huang,Houji Guo,Junyu Guo,Jian Pu,Hua Li,Ya Zhang,Anmin Wang,Mingwei Wei,Zebang Qin

doi:10.3389/fgene.2021.654686

Abstract

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) have been reported to be crucial regulators for carcinogenesis, including rectal cancer. This work aimed to explore the roles and associated mechanisms of small nucleolar RNA host gene 17 (SNHG17) in rectal cancer. A quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to measure the expression level of SNHG17 in rectal cancer tissues and cells. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and flow cytometry assay were conducted to measure the biological roles of SNHG17 in rectal cancer. In addition, luciferase activity reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay, and rescue experiments were conducted to explore the mechanisms of SNHG17 in rectal cancer. The upregulation status of SNHG17 was identified in rectal cancer tissues and cells. Functionally, knockdown the expression of SNHG17 inhibits rectal cancer cell proliferation via stimulating cell apoptosis. In vivo assay showed that the knockdown of SNHG17 inhibits tumor growth. Furthermore, we showed that microRNA-361-3p (miR-361-3p) has decreased expression in tumor tissues and cells, and SNHG17 functions as a sponge for miR-361-3p. The upregulation status of stanniocalcin 2 (STC2) was also found in rectal cancer, and the knockdown of STC2 hinders cancer progression. In conclusion, lncRNA SNHG17 functions as an oncogenic lncRNA in rectal cancer by regulating the miR-361-3p/STC2 axis.

Highlights

Colorectal cancer (CRC) accounts for a large number of cancer-related deaths worldwide, each year (Siegel et al, 2016)
We showed that ki-67 and Bcl-2 expression level were decreased, while Bax was increased in rectal cancer cells after small nucleolar RNA host gene 17 (SNHG17) knockdown (Figures 2D,E, p < 0.01)
LncRNA SNHG17 was found to elevate expression in both rectal cancer tissues and cells compared with normal tissues and cells

Summary

Introduction

Colorectal cancer (CRC) accounts for a large number of cancer-related deaths worldwide, each year (Siegel et al, 2016). The exploration of molecular markers related to rectal cancer progression is important. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are crucial regulators for cancer progression instead of “noise” in the genome (Anastasiadou et al, 2018). SNHG17/miR-361-3p/STC2 Axis in Rectal Cancer processes through multiple mechanisms (Anastasiadou et al, 2018). Previous studies have indicated that lncRNAs may serve as important regulators for rectal cancer progression and development (Tao et al, 2018; Shao et al, 2019; Qu et al, 2020). Another work showed that lncRNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 6 (SNHG6) expressed a high expression level in rectal cancer and correlated with shorter overall survival time (Shao et al, 2019). LncRNA NF-κB interacting lncRNA was downregulated in rectal cancer and correlated with advanced stage tumor (Tao et al, 2018)

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