Long non-coding RNA TFAP2A-AS1 plays an important role in oral squamous cell carcinoma: research includes bioinformatics analysis and experiments

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common neck and head malignancies, and the prognosis is not good. Studies shown that the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) TFAP2A-AS1 is involved in the progression of multiple cancers. However, the role of lncRNA TFAP2A-AS1 in OSCC remains unclear. We aimed to explore the functions and expression in OSCC. The lncRNA profiles for OSCC patients were acquired from the TCGA. Based on these data, the data mining of TFAP2A-AS1 in patients with OSCC were performed. The functions of TFAP2A-AS1 were determined by bioinformatics analysis. The expression and roles in cell growth were tested by RT-qPCR and MTS assay. Cell invasion and migration were tested by wound healing and transwell assays. The consequences displayed that TFAP2A-AS1 was upregulated in the TCGA datasets. The expression of TFAP2A-AS1 was higher in OSCC samples. Bioinformatics analysis shown that TFAP2A-AS1 might be associated with the P53 signaling pathway. Cell culture experiments indicated that deficiency of TFAP2A-AS1 inhibited cell growth, invasion, and migration, and overexpression of it could opposite results in SCC-25 cells. The results suggested that TFAP2A-AS1 was overexpressed in OSCC cells, which could facilitate OSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.