Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant epithelial cancer of the head and neck with high prevalence in southern China, which is accompanied by notable invasiveness and metastasis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in the progression of various cancers including NPC. Microarray-based analysis identified highly expressed IncRNA mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 5 (SMAD5)-antisense RNA 1 (AS1) related to NPC. Interestingly, it is found that SMAD5-AS1 competitively bound to microRNA (miR)-106a-5p to regulate SMAD5. Herein, the study aimed to clarify the role of SMAD5-AS1/miR-106a-5p/SMAD5 axis in the process of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) in NPC. SMAD5-AS1 was highly expressed and miR-106a-5p was poorly expressed in NPC tissues and cell lines. The NPC cells were treated with a series of small interfering RNAs, mimics, or inhibitors to explore the effects of SMAD5-AS1, SMAD5, and miR-106a-5p on EMT, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in NPC. Of note, SMAD5-AS1 silencing or miR-106a-5p overexpression reduced expression of N-cadherin, matrix metallopeptidase 9, Snail, and Vimentin while elevating E-cadherin expression, thus inhibiting EMT, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in NPC by down-regulation of SMAD5. Moreover, SMAD5 silencing could reduce the ability of EMT induced by SMAD5-AS1 up-regulation. SMAD5-AS1 silencing or miR-106a-5p elevation inhibited tumorigenesis in nude mice. Taken together, SMAD5-AS1 silencing suppressed EMT, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in NPC by elevating miR-106a-5p to down-regulate SMAD5, which provided a novel therapeutic target for NPC treatment.
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