LncRNA TPT1-AS1 Sponges miR-23a-5p in Glioblastoma to Promote Cancer Cell Proliferation

Long noncoding RNA (LncRNA) TPT1-AS1 is an oncogene in ovarian cancer and cervical cancer, while its role in glioblastoma (GBM) is unknown. The bioinformatics analysis in this study showed that miR-23a-5p may bind to TPT1-AS1. This study was performed to investigate the interactions between miR-23a-5p and TPT1-AS1 in GBM. A total of 60 GBM patients (40 males and 20 females, 24 to 60 years old, mean age 41.7 ± 7.8 years old) were enrolled at the First Hospital of Jilin University between April 2016 and April 2018. Gene expression levels were determined by qPCR and Western blot. Cell transfections were performed to analyze the interactions between TPT1-AS1, miR-23a-5p, and extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1). Cell proliferation was detected by cell proliferation assay. The authors found miR-23a-5p was downregulated in GBM and TPT1-AS1 was upregulated in GBM, whereas the expression of these two was not significantly correlated. In GBM cells, overexpression of TPT1-AS1 did not affect the expression of miR-23a-5p, but upregulated ECM1. In cell proliferation assay, overexpression of TPT1-AS1 and ECM1 resulted in increased proliferation rate of GBM cells. Overexpression of miR-23a-5p attenuated the effects of overexpressing TPT1-AS1. TPT1-AS1 may sponge miR-23a-5p in GBM to promote cancer cell proliferation by upregulating ECM1.