LncRNA ST8SIA6-AS1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation and resistance to apoptosis by targeting miR-4656/HDAC11 axis

Background Dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) results in development of human diseases including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although several HCC related lncRNAs have been reported, the biological functions of many lncRNAs during the development of HCC remains unknown. Methods The expression of ST8SIA6-AS1 was studied by realtime PCR (RT-qPCR) and bioinformatic analysis. The biological functions of ST8SIA6-AS1 was examined by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry analysis. The target of ST8SIA6-AS1 was analyzed by bioinformatic analysis and validated by dual luciferase reporter assay, western blotting and RT-qPCR. Results In this study we demonstrated that ST8SIA6-AS1 was an upregulated lncRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma. SiRNA-mediated knockdown of ST8SIA6-AS1 repressed cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis in HCC cells. Bioinformatic analysis and RT-qPCR further showed that ST8SIA6-AS1 mainly located in cytoplasm. Dual luciferase reporter assay further revealed that ST8SIA6-AS1 interacted with miR-4656 in HCC cells. In addition, HDAC11 was identified as a target gene in HCC cells and ST8SIA6-AS1 could upregulate HDAC11 via sponging miR-4656. Transfection of recombinant HDAC11 partially rescued the inhibition of cell proliferation and increase of cell apoptosis inducing by knockdown of ST8SIA6-AS1. Conclusion In conclusion, our findings suggested that ST8SIA6-AS1 was a novel upregulated lncRNA in HCC and could facilitate cell proliferation and resistance to cell apoptosis via sponging miR-4656 and elevation of HDAC11, which might be a promising biomarker for patients with HCC.