长链非编码RNA BARX1-DT对头颈鳞癌细胞增殖、侵袭和迁移的调控作用及其机制OA

AIM:To investigate the expression profile of long noncoding RNA BARX1-DT in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC)and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis in patients with HNSCC,and to explore the biological functions and underlying mechanisms of BARX1-DT in HNSCC cells.METHODS:The expression level of BARX1-DT in HNSCC tissues was analyzed based on data from The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA),and BARX1-DT expression in HNSCC cell lines was detected by quantitative real-time PCR(qPCR).The biological func-tions of BARX1-DT were studied using Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK-8)assay,5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine(EdU)staining,Transwell analysis,and flow cytometry.In addition,a competing endogenous RNA(ceRNA)regulatory network was con-structed through bioinformatics approaches,followed by Gene Ontology(GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Ge-nomes(KEGG)enrichment analyses.Moreover,RNA sequencing was employed to identify downstream genes and signaling pathways regulated by BARX1-DT.Moreover,the underlying mechanism of BARX1-DT in HNSCC cells was elucidated by integrating bioinformatics analysis with molecular and cellular biology experiments.RESULTS:The BARX1-DT ex-pression was significantly elevated in HNSCC tissues compared with normal controls(P<0.05).High BARX1-DT expres-sion was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in patients with HNSCC.Knockdown of BARX1-DT markedly suppressed the viability,proliferation,migration,and invasion of HNSCC cells.The BARX1-DT-centered ceRNA network comprised 14 miRNA nodes and 462 mRNA nodes.The results of RNA sequencing analysis re-vealed that BARX1-DT knockdown induced significant changes in the expression of 202 genes,which were involved in mul-tiple cancer-related signaling pathways.Further investigation demonstrated that BARX1-DT functioned as a molecular sponge for miR-431-5p,leading to the up-regulation of its downstream target gene carbonic anhydrase 1(CA1),thus pro-moting the malignant phenotypes of HNSCC cells.CONCLUSION:Elevated BARX1-DT expression is correlated with poor prognosis in patients with HNSCC.The BARX1-DT promotes the malignant phenotypes of HNSCC cells primarily through a ceRNA-mediated mechanism by up-regulating the target gene CA1.Overall,these findings highlight the poten-tial of BARX1-DT as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for HNSCC.