Silencing lncRNA HOXA10-AS decreases cell proliferation of oral cancer and HOXA10-antisense RNA can serve as a novel prognostic predictor

OBJECTIVE: Long noncoding (lnc)RNAs regulate multiple biological processes including cancer. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common malignancy with poor prognosis. We aimed to identify the function of lncRNA HOXA10 antisense RNA (HOXA10-AS) and its clinical significance. METHODS: We used differential expression analysis to identify aberrantly expressed lncRNAs associated with OSCC. We identified key genes related to HOXA10-AS and their biological functions using bioinformatics tools and functional enrichment analyses. We predicted the function of HOXA10-AS using gene set enrichment and variation analyses and analyzed proliferation markers at the mRNA and protein levels. Finally, we silenced HOXA10-AS using antisense oligonucleotide and assessed proliferation ability using a cell counting kit (CCK8) and clone formation assays. RESULTS: In total, 506 aberrantly expressed lncRNAs were identified. HOXA10-AS was identified as a risk factor for OSCC and its expression was positively associated with tumor grade. We identified hub genes involved in regulating proliferation and predicted that HOXA10-AS is associated with an active cell cycle and increased proliferation. Silencing HOXA10-AS decreased proliferation in OSCC cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: HOXA10-AS is involved in cell proliferation and silencing it decreases proliferation. Thus, HOXA10-AS could serve as prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for OSCC.