Loss of lncRNA SNHG8 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition by destabilizing CDH1 mRNA

摘要

Long non-coding RNAs(lnc RNAs) are widely involved in a variety of biological processes, including epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT). In the current study, we found that lnc RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 8(SNHG8) was tightly correlated with EMT-associated gene signatures, and was down-regulated by Zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1(ZEB1) during EMT progress. Functionally, knockdown of SNHG8 induced EMT in epithelial cells, through destabilizing the CDH1 m RNA dependent on a 17-nucleotide sequence shared by SNHG8 and CDH1. In addition, analysis with public database showed that SNHG8 tended to be down-regulated in different cancer types and the lower expression of SNHG8 predicted poorer prognosis.Taken together, our study reports a ZEB1-repressed lnc RNA SNHG8 which is important for stabilizing CDH1 m RNA, thereby maintaining the epithelial status of epithelial cells.