OCT4 pseudogene 5 upregulates OCT4 expression to promote proliferation by competing with miR-145 in endometrial carcinoma

Bai,Mingzhu; Yuan,Mu; Liao,Hong; Chen,Jiazhou; Xie,Binying; Yan,Dong; Xi,Xiaowei; Xu,Xianming; Zhang,Zhenbo; Feng,Youji

doi:10.3892/or.2015.3763

OCT4 pseudogene 5 upregulates OCT4 expression to promote proliferation by competing with miR-145 in endometrial carcinoma

Authors:
- Mingzhu Bai
- Mu Yuan
- Hong Liao
- Jiazhou Chen
- Binying Xie
- Dong Yan
- Xiaowei Xi
- Xianming Xu
- Zhenbo Zhang
- Youji Feng
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Affiliations: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai First People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, P.R. China, Clinical and Translational Research Center, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, P.R. China
Published online on: January 29, 2015 https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2015.3763
Pages: 1745-1752

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Abstract

OCT4 plays a critical role in the maintenance of stem cell pluripotency and proliferation, and is overexpressed in multiple human tumors, including endometrial cancer. OCT4 expression can be modulated by miR-145 and the OCT4 pseudogene 5 (OCT4-pg5), which share similar binding sites in the OCT4 3'-untranslated region. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the interaction between miR-145 and OCT4‑pg5 on OCT4 expression in endometrial cancer. We assessed OCT4-pg5 expression in 14 benign endometrium and 29 endometrial carcinoma samples. Furthermore, miR-145 mimic transfection was performed to explore its effect on OCT4-pg5 and OCT4 expression, and small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of OCT4 was conducted to determine whether the effect of OCT4-pg5 on cellular growth was OCT4-dependent. We observed that OCT4-pg5 was abnormally activated in the endometrial carcinomas, and that overexpression of OCT4-pg5 contributed to enhanced cell proliferation and OCT4-PI3K/AKT-cyclin D1 signaling. Moreover, the miR-145 mimic depleted OCT4 expression, whereas elevated OCT4-pg5 restored OCT4 expression and OCT4-PI3K/AKT-cyclin D1 signaling. In conclusion, these data indicate that OCT4-pg5 can act as an RNA sponge to protect OCT4 transcripts from being inhibited by miR-145, providing novel insight into the control of OCT4 expression.

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