LncRNA ANCR downregulates hypoxia­inducible factor 1α and inhibits the growth of HPV­negative cervical squamous cell carcinoma under hypoxic conditions.

ABSTRACT

Long non­coding RNA (lncRNA) anti­differentiation non­coding RNA (ANCR) has been reported to participate in numerous types of malignancies. The present study aimed to investigate the function of lncRNA ANCR in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). The expression of ANCR in the cervical tissues (tumor tissues in patients with CSCC) and serum of patients with CSCC in addition to healthy female controls was detected using reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Diagnostic values of ANCR expression in cervical tissue and serum for CSCC were determined using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. LncRNA ANCR and hypoxia­inducible factor 1α (HIF­1α) expression vectors were constructed and transfected into CSCC cell lines, and cell proliferation under normal O2 and hypoxic conditions (8% O2) was detected using a Cell Counting kit­8 assay. Expression of HIF­1α was determined using western blot analysis. It was observed that ANCR was downregulated in human papillomavirus (HPV)­negative patients with CSCC compared with in normal female cases and HPV­positive patients with CSCC in cervical tissues and in the serum, and the downregulation of ANCR effectively distinguished HPV­negative patients with CSCC from healthy controls. ANCR overexpression inhibited the proliferation of HPV­negative CSCC cells under hypoxic conditions, whilst HIF­1α overexpression reversed this effect. ANCR overexpression inhibited HIF­1α expression in HPV­negative CSCC cells, while HIF­1α overexpression exhibited no significant effect on ANCR expression. It was therefore concluded that ANCR may inhibit the growth of HPV­negative cervical squamous cell carcinoma under hypoxic conditions by downregulating HIF­1α.