Long Noncoding RNA PVT1 Facilitates Cervical Cancer Progression via Negative Regulating of miR-424

Emerging evidence suggests that the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT1) gene is involved in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer. However, the potential mechanism is rarely reported. Our study found that PVT1 was upregulated in cervical cancer tissue and cell lines. After transfecting PVT1 siRNA, the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cervical cancer cells were markedly decreased. miRNA expression profiles demonstrate that miR-424 was markedly downregulated in cervical cancer tissue. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that miR-424 was potentially targeted by PVT1, which was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that PVT1 expression was negatively related to miR-424 expression in glioma cancer tissues. Finally, lowered expression of miR-424 could recover the tumor-suppressive effects of PVT1 knockdown in cervical cancer cell lines. Our results reveal a tumor-promoting role for PVT1, acting as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) or a molecular sponge in negatively modulating miR-424, which might provide a novel therapeutic target for cervical cancer.