LncRNA DGCR5 promotes lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) progression via inhibiting hsa-mir-22-3p

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) serve critical roles in the pathogenesis of various cancers, including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Herein, in this study, we aimed to investigate the biological and clinical significance of lncRNA DiGeorge syndrome critical region gene 5 (DGCR5) in LUAD. It was observed that DGCR5 was upregulated in LUAD tissues and LUAD cell lines. Inhibition of DGCR5 can prevent LUAD progression via playing anti-apoptosis roles. Both mRNA expression and protein levels of BCL-2 were increased by DGCR5 downregulation while reversely BAX was increased. Additionally, a novel microRNA target of DGCR5, hsa-mir-22-3p was identified through bioinformatics search and confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter system. Gain and loss-of-function studies were performed to verify whether DGCR5 exerts its biological functions through regulating hsa-mir-22-3p in vitro. Overexpression of DGCR5 was able to reverse the tumor inhibitory effect of hsa-mir-22-3p mimics. Furthermore, in vivo tests tumor xenografts were established to detect the function of DGCR5 in LUAD tumorigenesis. Downregulated DGCR5 expression was greatly associated with smaller tumor size, implying a favorable prognosis of LUAD patients. Taken these together, DGCR5 could be considered as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in LUAD diagnosis and treatment.