Long noncoding RNA SNHG14 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression by regulating miR-876-5p/SSR2 axis

BACKGROUND: Aberrant expressions of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to be related to the progress of HCC. The mechanisms that SNHG14 has participated in the development of HCC are obscure. METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the lncRNA, microRNA and mRNA expression level. Cell migration, invasion and proliferation ability were evaluated by transwell and CCK8 assays. The ceRNA regulatory mechanism of SNHG14 was evaluated by RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and dual luciferase reporter assay. Tumorigenesis mouse model was used to explore the roles of miR-876-5p in vivo. The protein levels of SSR2 were measured by western blot assay. RESULTS: In this study, we demonstrated that SNHG14 was highly expressed in HCC tissues, meanwhile, the elevated expression of SNHG14 predicted poor prognosis in patients with HCC. SNHG14 promoted proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells. We further revealed that SNHG14 functioned as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-876-5p and that SSR2 was a downstream target of miR-876-5p in HCC. Transwell, CCK8 and animal experiments exhibited miR-876-5p inhibited HCC progression in vitro and in vivo. By conducting rescue experiments, we found the overexpression of SSR2 or knocking down the level of miR-876-5p could reverse the suppressive roles of SNHG14 depletion in HCC. CONCLUSION: SNHG14 promotes HCC progress by acting as a sponge of miR-876-5p to regulate the expression of SSR2 in HCC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-021-01838-5.