The lncRNA DLX6-AS1/miR-16-5p axis regulates autophagy and apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer: A Boolean model of cell death

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) distal-less homeobox 6 antisense RNA 1 (DLX6-AS1) is elevated in a variety of cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and cervical cancer. Although it was found that the microRNA-16-5p (miR-16), which is known to regulate autophagy and apoptosis, had been downregulated in similar cancers. Recent research has shown that in tumors with similar characteristics, DLX6-AS1 acts as a sponge for miR-16 expression. However, the cell death-related molecular mechanism of the DLX6-AS1/miR-16 axis has yet to be investigated. Therefore, we propose a dynamic Boolean model to investigate gene regulation in cell death processes via the DLX6-AS1/miR-16 axis. We found the finest concordance when we compared our model to many experimental investigations including gain-of-function genes in NSCLC and cervical cancer. A unique positive circuit involving BMI1/ATM/miR-16 is also something we predict. Our results suggest that this circuit is essential for regulating autophagy and apoptosis under stress signals. Thus, our Boolean network enables an evident cell-death process coupled with NSCLC and cervical cancer. Therefore, our results suggest that DLX6-AS1 targeting may boost miR-16 activity and thereby restrict tumor growth in these cancers by triggering autophagy and apoptosis.