LncRNA MAFG-AS1 deregulated in breast cancer affects autophagy and progression of breast cancer by interacting with miR-3612 and FKBP4 invitro.

PURPOSE: We aimed to explore the function and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) pathway of MAFG-AS1 in breast cancer. METHODS: qRT-PCR assay identified the expression of MAFG-AS1, miR-3612 and FKBP4. We used Western blot analysis to test the autophagy related protein levels in breast cancer cells. Functional assays such as Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay, BrdU proliferation assay, Caspase-3 activity detection were used to identify the function of MAFG-AS1, miR-3612 and FKBP4 in breast cancer cells. Mechanism assays were used to verify the interacting relationship among MAFG-AS1, miR-3612 and FKBP4, including RNA pull down assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay and luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: MAFG-AS1 and FKBP4 were both up-regulated in breast cancer tissues. MAFG-AS1 could function as an oncogene in breast cancer to activate cell proliferation, and inhibit cell apoptosis and autophagy. Meanwhile, MAFG-AS1 could sponge miR-3612 to elevate the expression of FKBP4. Besides, FKBP4 could activate the cell proliferation and inhibit cell apoptosis and autophagy, which could relieve the inhibitory effect of miR-3612 on breast cancer cells. CONCLUSION: MAFG-AS1 could activate breast cancer progression via modulating miR-3612/FKBP4 axis in vitro.