Long non-coding RNA HEIH modulates CDK8 expression by inhibiting miR-193a-5p to accelerate nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression

Y.-E. Han, J.-M. Tao, S.-X. Wang, X. Ju, Z.-Y. Song

Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Qilu Hospital (Qingdao), Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Qingdao, China. lay666622@163.com

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• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is the commonest malignant tumor. In this article, we aimed to examine the molecular role of lncRNA HEIH in the progression of NPC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We assessed the expression of HEIH, miR-193a-5p and CDK8 in NPC tissues and cells by real-time PCR. The cell proliferation, invasion and migration of SUNE-1 cells were examined by CCK-8 and transwell assay. Western blot assay was adopted to measure the protein expression level of CDK8. Dual-Luciferase reporter assay was adopted to evaluate the correlation between HEIH, miR-193a-5p and CDK8.

RESULTS: We discovered that HEIH was high expressed and miR-193a-5p was reduced in both NPC tissues and cells. The upregulation of HEIH facilitated cell proliferation, migration and invasion of SUNE-1 cells. In addition, overexpression of miR-193a-5p restrained cell progression of SUNE-1 cells. Moreover, HEIH was proved to be a molecular sponge of miR-193a-5p in NPC. Besides that, CDK8 was found to be a direct target gene of miR-193a-5p in NPC. Furthermore, CDK8 knockdown suppressed cell progression of SUNE-1 cells.

CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrated that HEIH overexpression promoted cell progression by sponging miR-193a-5p and upregulating CDK8.

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