The mechanism of action of HOX antisense intergenic RNA in gastric cancer

Abstract

Objective Investigate the mechanism of HOX antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer. Methods 40 patients with gastric cancer were selected, there were 29 males and 21 females with an average age of (51.7±10.8) years; Ⅰ period 20 cases, Ⅱ period 10 cases, Ⅲ period 6 cases, Ⅳ period 4 cases; 9 cases of high differentiation, 12 cases of middle differentiation and 19 cases of low differentiation. The expression levels of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) HOTAIR in cancer tissues and adjacent tissues of gastric cancer patients were detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), andanalyzed the correlation between the expression of HOTAIR and the clinical characteristics of gastric cancer patients. lncRNA HOTAIR small interfering RNA (siRNA) were designed and synthesized, and the silencing model was established in the primary SGC-7901 gastric cancer cell line. The expression of lncRNA HOTAIR in primary SGC-7901 gastric cancer cells was detected, add the effects of lncRNA HOTAIR on the proliferation and apoptosis of cancer cellsanalyzed. The molecular regulatory mechanism was studied by Western blotting and RT-qPCR. Results The expression of lncRNA HOTAIR in cancer tissues was (4.367±0.352), higher than that in adjacent tissues (0.984±0.782) (P 0.05). After 48 h of lncRNA HOTAIR siRNA transfection, the ratio of early apoptotic cells [(22.69±3.21)% vs. (10.97±1.52)%], late apoptotic cells [(30.41±3.97)% vs. (7.40±1.71)%] and necrotic cells [(5.53±0.74)% vs. (3.44±0.42)%] was significantly higher than that of untransfected cells (t=5.715, 9.220, 4.254, P<0.05). The relative expression of Wnt3a protein in the cells after transfection was significantly lower than that in the untransfected group (0.39±0.07 vs. 0.92±0.13, t=6.217, P<0.05). Conclusion lncRNA HOTAIR is up-regulated in gastric cancer, while inhibiting HOTAIR expression can inhibit the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by down-regulating Wnt3a protein expression, thereby promoting the apoptosis of gastric cancer cells. Key words: Long non-coding RNA HOX antisense intergenic RNA; Gastric cancer; Apoptosis