LncRNA PCED1B-AS1 facilitates cervical cancer progression via targeting miR-361-3p

Abstract

In recent years, the incidence of cervical cancer has been on the rise, making it imperative to search for targeted therapeutic tumor-associated biomarkers. PCED1B-AS1 regulates gene expression and affects cell proliferation and differentiation in tumors. However, its function and potential mechanisms in cervical cancer remain unclear. The expression of PCED1B-AS1 in cervical cancer and adjacent tissues was detected by qRT-PCR, and its clinical significance was analyzed by chi-square test and Cox model. The interaction between PCED1B-AS1 and miR-361-3p was verified by ENCORI database, and luciferase reporter assay was used to verify the interaction. The CCK-8 and Transwell assays were used to evaluate their effects on cervical cancer cell function. The expression of PCED1B-AS1 in cervical cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues, and was significantly correlated with tumor grade, stage, and FIGO classification. The upregulation of PCED1B-AS1 can predict adverse prognosis in cervical cancer patients, and the expression of PCED1B-AS1 is negatively correlated with the expression of miR-361-3p. Silencing PCED1B-AS1 significantly inhibited the growth, migration, and invasion of CaSki and HeLa cells, while inhibition of miR-361-3p could diminish this effect. PCED1B-AS1 is significantly upregulated in cervical cancer tissue, and the regulatory axis formed with miR-361-3p may be involved in tumor progression. Importantly, the high expression of PCED1B-AS1 is significantly associated with poor prognosis in patients, suggesting that it not only serves as a novel molecular biomarker for the diagnosis of cervical cancer but may also provide potential intervention targets for the development of targeted therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: Cervical cancer; PCED1B-AS1; miR-361-3p; tumor biomarkers.