LINC00665 sponges miR-641 to promote the progression of breast cancer by targeting the SNF2-related CREBBP activator protein (SRCAP)

The regulatory network of competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNA) exists widely in tumors and affects the expression of cancer-related genes, thus playing an important role in the development and prognosis of human tumors. In this research, we explored the role and mechanism of LINC00665 as a ceRNA in breast cancer. We analyzed the expression and targets of LINC00665 in breast cancer using bioinformatics, and detected their effects on breast cancer cells by CCK8, transwell, colony formation and flow cytometry assays. From our results, LINC00665 knockdown suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion and induced the apoptosis through inactivating the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. LINC00665 had five potential downstream target miRNAs (miR-542-3p, miR-624-5p, miR-641, miR-425-5p, and miR-30-3p). In dual-luciferase report gene assay, the fluorescence activity of cells transfected with miR-641 mimics decreased, and the expression of miR-641 decreased significantly after knocking down LINC00665. miR-641 mimics significantly inhibited cell proliferation and invasion in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. We detected five potential direct targets of miR-641 using qPCR (SRCAP, SIKE1, NADK, KHDC4, and HSPG2). SRCAP expression decreased significantly in miR-641 overexpression cells and the binding of SRCAP’s 3ʹUTR and miR-641 was further confirmed by dual-luciferase report gene assay. SRCAP blocked the proliferation and invasion inhibition induced by miR-641 or si-LINC00665 in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. In conclusion, LINC00665 could promote the survival and metastasis of breast cancer cells through sponging miR-641 and targeting SRCAP. This research provided new potential targets for targeted therapy in human breast cancer.