HOXA‑AS3 induces tumor progression through the epithelial‑mesenchymal transition pathway in epithelial ovarian cancer

Eoh,Kyung Jin; Lee,Dae Woo; Nam,Eun Ji; Kim,Jae In; Moon,Hanna; Kim,Sang Wun; Kim,Young Tae

doi:10.3892/or.2023.8501

HOXA‑AS3 induces tumor progression through the epithelial‑mesenchymal transition pathway in epithelial ovarian cancer

Authors:
- Kyung Jin Eoh
- Dae Woo Lee
- Eun Ji Nam
- Jae In Kim
- Hanna Moon
- Sang Wun Kim
- Young Tae Kim
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Affiliations: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Digital Health, Yongin Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yongin, Gyeonggi‑do 16995, Republic of Korea, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bucheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon, Gyeonggi‑do 14647, Republic of Korea, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Women's Medical Life Science, Yonsei Cancer Center, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea
Published online on: February 14, 2023 https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2023.8501
Article Number: 64
Copyright: © Eoh et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

HOXA cluster antisense RNA 3 (HOXA‑AS3) is considered to be involved in several malignancies, however, its biological function in the progression of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) remains unclear. The present study compared the expression of HOXA‑AS3 in ovarian cancer and normal ovarian tissues and analyzed the association between the expression of HOXA‑AS3 and the survival outcomes of patients with ovarian cancer. RNA interference was used to suppress HOXA‑AS3 expression in ovarian cancer cell lines in order to demonstrate the function of HOXA‑AS3 in ovarian cancer progression. The associations between HOXA‑AS3 and epithelial‑mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers were explored to verify the mechanism of action of HOXA‑AS3 in ovarian cancer. The results of the present study revealed that ovarian cancer tissues exhibited higher HOXA‑AS3 expression than normal ovarian tissues. Clinical data indicated that HOXA‑AS3 was a significant predictor of progression‑free survival and overall survival. Patients with high HOXA‑AS3 expression had a poorer prognosis than patients with low HOXA‑AS3 expression. In vitro experiments using HOXA‑AS3‑knockdown ovarian cancer cell lines demonstrated that HOXA‑AS3 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and migration. HOXA‑AS3 was a potent inducer and modulator of the expression of EMT pathway‑related markers and interacted with both the mRNA and protein forms of HOXA3. Collectively, the findings of the present study demonstrated that HOXA‑AS3 expression is associated with ovarian cancer progression and thus, may be employed as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target in EOC.

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