LncRNA HOXD-AS2 regulates miR-3681-5p/DCP1A axis to promote the progression of non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common malignancy in lung cancer, with a low survival rate and unfavorable prognosis. Dysregulated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play vital functions in tumor progression. This study intended to probe the expression pattern and function of HOXD-AS2 in NSCLC. METHODS: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was conducted to analyze the expression of HOXD-AS2, miR-3681-5p, CCR1, mRNA-decapping enzyme 1A (DCP1A), and PPP3R1. Cell viability, migration, and invasion were separately examined via 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and transwell experiments. Luciferase reporter assay was conducted to evaluate the binding of miR-3681-5p with HOXD-AS2 or DCP1A. Protein expression of DCP1A was assessed via Western blot. NSCLC animal models were constructed through injection of H1975 cells transfected with lentivirus (LV)-sh-HOXD-AS2 into nude mice, followed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis. RESULTS: In this study, HOXD-AS2 was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cells, and high HOXD-AS2 predicted short overall survival (OS). Downregulation of HOXD-AS2 could impair the proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of H1975 and A549 cells. MiR-3681-5p was shown to bind with HOXD-AS2 and be lowly expressed in NSCLC. Suppression of miR-3681-5p could abolish the inhibitory effect of HOXD-AS2 silencing on proliferation, migration, and invasion. DCP1A was screened as the target of miR-3681-5p and its overexpression could rescue miR-3681-5p upregulation-repressed proliferation, migration, and invasion activities. Moreover, animal experiments affirmed that HOXD-AS2 promoted tumor growth in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: HOXD-AS2 modulates the miR-3681-5p/DCP1A axis to boost the progression of NSCLC, which founds the basis of HOXD-AS2 as a new diagnostic biomarker and molecular target for NSCLC therapy.