Study on the mechanism of LOXL1-AS1/miR-3614-5p/YY1 signal axis in the malignant phenotype regulation of hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors with high mortality worldwide. Accumulating researches have indicated that long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in varies human cancers, including HCC. Nevertheless, the specific molecular mechanism of lncRNA lysyl oxidase like 1 antisense RNA 1 (LOXL1-AS1) in HCC is still unclear. METHODS: LOXL1-AS1 expression was tested via qRT-PCR in HCC cells. Functional and mechanism assays were respectively done to evaluate the biological functions of HCC cells and the potential interaction of LOXL1-AS1 and other factors. RESULTS: We discovered that LOXL1-AS1 was high expressed in HCC cells. Inhibition of LOXL1-AS1 repressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion, but enhanced cell apoptosis in HCC. Further, miR-3614-5p was proven to be sponged by LOXL1-AS1. Additionally, Yin Yang 1 (YY1) was proven as the target gene of miR-3614-5p, and YY1 depletion could repress HCC cell malignant behaviors. YY1 could also transcriptionally activate LOXL1-AS1 expression. In rescue assays, we confirmed that overexpression of YY1 or miR-3614-5p inhibition could reverse the suppressive effects of LOXL1-AS1 silence on the malignant behaviors of HCC cells. CONCLUSION: In short, LOXL1-AS1/miR-3614-5p/YY1 forms a positive loop in modulating HCC cell malignant behaviors. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13062-021-00312-8.