HANR promotes lymphangiogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma via secreting miR-296 exosome and regulating EAG1/VEGFA signaling in HDLEC cells.

The long noncoding RNA HANR has been shown to be involved in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the underlying mechanism of HCC-associated long noncoding RNA (HANR)-regulated HCC metastasis and lymphangiogenesis has not been elucidated. RT-qPCR and Western blot methods were utilized to detect the gene expressions. Interaction of HANR with miR-296 was predicted by a bioinformatic program and validated by a dual-luciferase reporter assay. For the functional experiment, a transwell invasion assay was utilized to examine the invasion abilities of HepG2 and Huh-7 cells. The lymphatic vessel formation assay was used to show the HCC-associated lymphatic vessel formation ability of human dermal lymphatic endothelial cells (HDLEC). HANR was shown to directly bind to miR-296, and miR-296 downregulated HANR expression in HepG2 cells. Then, we observed that miR-296 inhibitor transfection in shHANR HCC cells could promote lymphatic vessel formation and invasion of HDLEC cells compared with shHANR HCC cells. EAG1 or VEGFA overexpression in HDLEC cells rescued lymphatic vessel formation and invasion in HDLEC cells coincubated with the medium of HepG2 cells expressing shHANR or miR-296 mimic. Ultimately, HANR knockdown and miR-296 mimic led to a significant decrease in the EAG1 and VEGFA expression levels in HepG2 cells. Here, we reveal a novel molecular mechanism in which the HANR/miR-296/EAG1/VEGF axis is responsible for the lymphangiogenesis of HCC cells. Our findings provide more insights into developing therapeutical or diagnostic methods by targeting HANR.

HANR promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression via miR-214/EZH2/TGF-ß axis.

BACKGROUND: LncRNA has been shown to associates with the initiation and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recently, some studies showed that HANR function as an oncogene in HCC; however, the detailed mechanism of HANR-regulated HCC tumorigenesis and progression needs to be elucidated. METHODS: We used RT-qPCR method to probe genes expression. MTT assay, wound healing assay and transwell invasion assay were utilized to examine proliferation and migration and invasion abilities of HepG2 cells. Xenograft tumor experiment was used to show the growth of tumors in vivo. RESULTS: HANR was evidently upregulated in HCC tumors and cells compared to normal tissues and cells. Besides, HANR knockdown induces attenuated cell proliferation, migration, invasion of HCC cells. By bioinformatic analysis and dual luciferase reporter assay, we found that miR-214 was the downstream target of HANR. Furthermore, miR-214 inhibitor largely enhanced tumor phenotypes of HCC cells regulated by HANR knockdown. HANR and miR-214 regulated the EZH2, then affecting TGFBR2 level. Finally, we demonstrated that EZH2 overexpression could greatly rescue HANR knockdown or miR-214 mimic-induced HCC tumorigenesis and progression. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we report a newly identified regulatory mechanism HANR/miR-214/EZH2/TGF-ß axis, which is implicated in tumorigenesis and progression of HCC. Our findings suggest that HANR facilitates the development of therapeutical strategies or diagnostic markers by targeting HANR.

Long non-coding RNA HANR modulates the glucose metabolism of triple negative breast cancer via stabilizing hexokinase 2.

Increasing evidence has demonstrated the oncogenic roles of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-associated long non-coding RNA (HANR) in the development of HCC and lung cancer; however, the involvement of HANR in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains largely unknown. Our results demonstrated the significant overexpression of HANR in TNBC tissues and cells. Higher HANR levels significantly correlated with the poorer phenotypes in patients with TNBC. HANR down-regulation inhibited the proliferation and cell cycle progression and increased the apoptosis of TNBC cells. Mechanistically, immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry revealed hexokinase II (HK2) as a direct binding target of HANR. HANR binds to and stabilizes HK2 through the proteasomal pathway. Consistent with the important role of HK2 in cancer cells, HANR depletion represses the glucose absorbance and lactate secretion, thus reprogramming the metabolism of TNBC cells. An in vivo xenograft model also demonstrated that HANR promoted tumor growth and aerobic glycolysis. This study reveals the role of HANR in modulating the glycolysis in TNBC cells by regulating HK2 stability, suggesting that HANR is a potential drug target for TNBC.

LncRNA-HANR exacerbates malignant behaviors of cholangiocarcinoma cells through activating Notch pathway.

Objectives: Cholangiocarcinoma (CHOL) is a malignant tumor from extrahepatic bile duct with poor prognosis. The critical roles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in cancers including CHOL have been unveiled in recent decades. The present study was aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of a certain lncRNA, namely, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) associated long non-coding RNA (HANR) in CHOL. Methods: Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was applied for detecting gene expression. Functional assays were done for assessing CHOL cell malignancy and mechanistic assays were conducted for analyzing correlation between HANR and Notch signal pathway, as well as the relation between HANR and Notch intracellular domain (NICD) in CHOL cells. Results: HANR was detected to be significantly overexpressed in CHOL cell lines. HANR silence inhibited cell proliferation, migration and stemness. Besides, HANR could positively regulate the Notch signaling pathway through modulating RBP-JK. HANR could bind to NICD and affect the transcriptional activity of RBP-JK. Furthermore, p-Notch1-NICD-r could wholly countervail the inhibitory effects of HANR silence on CHOL cell proliferation, migration and stemness. Conclusion: HANR could activate Notch pathway by regulating the RBP-JK transcriptional activity, thus contributing to exacerbated malignant behaviors of CHOL cells.

HANR Enhances Autophagy-Associated Sorafenib Resistance Through miR-29b/ATG9A Axis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and chemoresistance is the main obstacle for effective treatments of HCC. Accumulating studies indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) contribute to the chemoresistance of human carcinoma. However, the functional role of HANR in autophagy-mediated chemoresistance of HCC is unknown. METHODS: The expressions of HANR, miR-29b and ATG9A in tissues and cell lines were detected by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The expression of autophagy-related protein LC3-I and LC3-II was evaluated by Western blotting. The cell viability and apoptosis were examined by CCK-8 and flow cytometry, respectively. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase activity assay were applied to determine the downstream target gene of HANR or miR-29b. Xenograft experiment was used to detect the effect of HANR on tumor growth. RESULTS: In the present study, we demonstrated that HANR was notably overexpressed in sorafenib-resistant HepG2 (HepG2/sora) and sorafenib-resistant Huh7 (Huh7/sora) cells, and HANR enhanced sorafenib resistance by facilitating autophagy in HepG2/sora and Huh7/sora cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that miR­29b could directly interact with HANR and abolished HANR-induced sorafenib resistance by suppressing autophagy in HepG2/sora and Huh7/sora cells. Moreover, ATG9A was validated as a target of miR-29b and its overexpression obviously reversed the inhibitory effect of miR-29b on sorafenib resistance and autophagy. In addition, HANR could act as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to upregulate ATG9A expression by sponging miR-29b. Hence, HANR increased autophagy-related sorafenib resistance via inhibiting the miR-29b/ATG9A axis in HepG2/sora and Huh7/sora cells, indicating that it may be a potential target to prevent chemoresistance of HCC. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed HANR enhanced sorafenib resistance by acting as an autophagy promoter by regulating miR-29b/ATG9A axis in sorafenib­resistant HCC cells and might provide potential therapeutic strategies for HCC treatment.