lncRNA DCST1-AS1 Facilitates Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Promoting M2 Macrophage Polarization through Activating NF-κB Signaling

lncRNAs are related to the progression of various diseases, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), which is a common squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Tumor-associated macrophages and tumor cells are significant components of tumor microenvironment. M2 polarization of tumor-associated macrophages is a crucial actor in tumor malignancy and metastasis. In this study, we studied the molecular mechanism of lncRNA DCST1-AS1 in OSCC. Here, we reported that DCST1-AS1 was significantly increased in OSCC cells. We found that loss of DCST1-AS1 obviously inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OSCC cells and xenograft tumor growth. Meanwhile, silencing of DCST1-AS1 also repressed the percentage of macrophages expressing M2 markers CD206 and CD11b. DCST1-AS1 shRNA enhanced the percentage of macrophages expressing M1 markers CD80 and CD11c. Then, we observed that loss of DCST1-AS1 suppressed OSCC progression via inactivating NF-κB signaling. As well established, NF-κB signaling exerts critical roles in tumor progression, and our study proved that DCST1-AS1 could regulate NF-κB signaling. We proved that blocking the NF-κB pathway using antagonists greatly downregulated OSCC progression and M2 macrophage polarization induced by the overexpression of DCST1-AS1. To sum up, we reported that DCST1-AS1 plays an important role in modulating OSCC tumorigenicity and M2 macrophage polarization through regulating the NF-κB pathway.