LncRNA SPRY4-AS1通过糖酵解调控肝癌细胞的增殖与凋亡

LncRNA SPRY4-AS1 Regulates the Proliferation and Apoptosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Through Glycolysis

长非编码RNAs (lncRNAs)在转录水平和转录后水平均对细胞的多种功能发挥重要的调节作用。大量研究已经表明,lncRNAs在肿瘤细胞的糖代谢过程中发挥了不可忽视的作用。然而,其具体的机制仍需进一步探究。该文研究了lncRNA SPRY4-AS1通过糖代谢调控人肝癌细胞(HepG2细胞和Huh7细胞)体外增殖与凋亡的影响及其相关机制。首先,利用TCGA数据库预测了SPRY4-AS1的表达对肝癌患者生存率的影响。进而通过siRNA或慢病毒载体构建SPRY4-AS1的HepG2细胞或Huh7细胞的低表达株和高表达株探究其机制。并通过CCK-8、流式细胞仪(FCM)、细胞耗氧率(OCR)、Western印迹和荧光定量PCR等方法,分别检测细胞的体外增殖能力、细胞周期变化及凋亡相关蛋白质水平的变化与糖酵解能力的变化,同时也检测了IRS-1、AKT和PI3K磷酸化基因在蛋白质水平的表达量。结果表明,促进lncRNA SPRY4-AS1的表达可以提高肝癌患者的生存能力,并对其机制进一步探究发现:与对照组(si-NC)相比,实验组(si-lncRNA SPRY4-AS1)细胞增殖能力明显增强(P<0.05),而在过表达细胞中,细胞增殖能力明显下降(P<0.05)。此外,在过表达lncRNA SPRY4-AS1的细胞中,S期细胞所占比例显著减少(P<0.05),G2/M期细胞比例增加(P<0.05),Bcl-2基因在蛋白质水平的表达量降低,Cyt c基因在蛋白质水平的表达上升。在低表达lncRNA SPRY4-AS1细胞中,PI3K/AKT信号通路被激活;而过表达细胞中,PI3K/AKT信号通路被抑制。然而,细胞胞外产酸能量增强,HK与PFK的mRNA表达量上升(P<0.05),并且酶活显著增强(P<0.05)。综上所述,lncRNA SPRY4-AS1可以通过抑制PI3K/AKT信号通路,降低糖酵解水平,导致其凋亡,从而抑制细胞的增殖,延缓肝癌患者的寿命。

Long noncoding RNAs(lncRNAs)play an important role in regulating various cellular functions at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels.Many studies have shown that lncRNAs are involved in the glucose metabolism of tumor cells,but the mechanism remains unclear.In this study,the effects of lncRNA SPRY4-AS1 on proliferation and apoptosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells(HepG2 and Huh7 cells)through glucose metabolism were investigated.First,the influence of SPRY4-AS1expression on survival rate of liver cancer patients was predicted using TCGA database.To further explore the mechanism,siRNA or lentivirus vectors were used to knock down or overexpress of SPRY4-AS1 in HepG2 or Huh7 cells.CCK-8,flow cytometry(FCM),oxygen consumption rate(OCR),Western blot,and real-time quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR)were used to detect the ability of proliferation,and the change of cell cycle,apoptosis related proteins,and the glycolysis ability,respectively.Concurrently,the levels of phosphorylated protein of IRS-1,AKT and PI3K were detected in cells.We first found that lncRNA SPRY4-AS1 was positively associated with survival of liver cancer patients.These results showed that compared with the control group(si-NC),the cell proliferation ability was significantly enhanced(P<0.05)by si-lncRNA SPRY4-AS1,while opposite result was found in cells with overexpression of lncRNA SPRY4-AS1.In the overexpressed lncRNA SPRY4-AS1 cells,results showed obvious changes,including the proportion of S cells significantly decreased(P<0.05),and the proportion of G2/M cells increased(P<0.05).In addition,the protein expression of Bcl-2 decreased,and the protein expression of Cyt c increased.The PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was activated in silncRNA SPRY4-AS1 treated cells,while opposite result was found in cells of lncRNA SPRY4-AS1 overexpression.However,the extracellular acid production was enhanced,and the mRNA expression levels of HK and PFK and their enzyme activities were significantly increased(P<0.05)in si-lncRNA SPRY4-AS1 cells.All together,these results indicated that lncRNA SPRY4-AS1,which was associated with extended life span of liver cancer patients,could promote apoptosis via inhibiting PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and glycolysis,thereby blocking the proliferation of liver cancer cells.