1. SphK1-targeted miR-6784 inhibits functions of skin squamous cell carcinoma cells
- Author
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Zhou Feng, Jian-Feng Ji, Jiang Yasu, Jiang Ji, Jian Yao, Gang Gao, and Zhen-Hua Gong
- Subjects
Aging ,Ceramide ,Skin Neoplasms ,Cell Survival ,Cell ,Apoptosis ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Cell Line, Tumor ,microRNA ,medicine ,Skin Squamous Cell Carcinoma ,Humans ,Viability assay ,SphK1 ,neoplasms ,biology ,Cell growth ,skin squamous cell carcinoma ,Cell Biology ,MicroRNAs ,Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor) ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,chemistry ,Sphingosine kinase 1 ,Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ,Cancer research ,biology.protein ,miR-6784 ,A431 cells ,Research Paper - Abstract
Sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) is overexpressed in skin squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). It has emerged as a novel therapeutic oncotarget. The current study identified a novel SphK1-targeting microRNA, microRNA-6784 (miR-6784). Here, we show that miR-6784 is located at the cytoplasm of A431 skin SCC cells. It directly binds to SphK1 mRNA. Ectopic overexpression of miR-6784 inhibited SphK1 3’-untranslated region (UTR) luciferase activity and downregulated its expression. Moreover, miR-6784 overexpression caused ceramide accumulation in skin SCC cells. Functional studies in established (A431 and SCC9) and primary skin SCC cells revealed that miR-6784 overexpression inhibited cell viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion. It also simultaneously provoked apoptosis activation. Conversely, miR-6784 silencing by antagomiR-6784 induced SphK1 elevation and augmented A431 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. miR-6784 overexpression-induced anti-A431 cell activity was inhibited by the expression of an UTR-null SphK1 construct. CRISPR/Cas9-induced SphK1 knockout inhibited A431 cell growth. Importantly, miR-6784 was completely ineffective when treating SphK1-knockout A431 cells. Collectively, miR-6784 silences SphK1 and inhibits skin SCC cell progression.
- Published
- 2021
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