Open Access

ARTICLE

Long Noncoding RNA UCA1 Targets miR-122 to Promote Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion of Glioma Cells

Yang Sun^*1, Jun-Gong Jin^*1, Wei-Yang Mi^†, Hao-Wu^*, Shi-Rong Zhang^‡, Qiang Meng^*, Shi-Tao Zhang^‡

* Department of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, P.R. China
† Department of Neurosurgery, Xi’an Children’s Hospital, Xi’an, P.R. China
‡ Department of Neurosurgery, Xi’an No. 3 Hospital, Xi’an, P.R. China
1 These authors are co-first authors.

Oncology Research 2018, 26(1), 103-110. https://doi.org/10.3727/096504017X14934860122864

Abstract

Glioma is the most common and lethal malignant intracranial tumor. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified as pivotal regulators in the tumorigenesis of glioma. However, the role of lncRNA urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 (UCA1) in glioma genesis is still unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the underlying function of UCA1 on glioma genesis. The results demonstrated that UCA1 was upregulated in glioma tissue and indicated a poor prognosis. UCA1 knockdown induced by si-UCA1 significantly suppressed the proliferative, migrative, and invasive activities of glioma cell lines (U87 and U251). Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay verified the complementary binding within UCA1 and miR-122 at the 3'-UTR. Functional experiments revealed that UCA1 acted as an miR-122 “sponge” to modulate glioma cell proliferation, migration, and invasion via downregulation of miR-122. Overall, the present study demonstrated that lncRNA UCA1 acts as an endogenous sponge of miR-122 to promote glioma cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, which provides a novel insight and therapeutic target in the tumorigenesis of glioma.

---

Keywords

---