LncRNA BBOX1-AS1 Aggravates the Development of Ovarian Cancer by Sequestering miR-361-3p to Augment PODXL Expression

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a kind of common gynecological malignancy around the world. Mounting literatures have confirmed the implication of lncRNAs in the development of various cancers. Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) BBOX1-AS1 has not been reported in most cancer types including OC. Presently, we aimed at exploring the function and regulatory mechanism of BBOX1-AS1 in OC. As a result, we demonstrated the extremely high BBOX1-AS1 expression in OC tissues and cells. BBOX1-AS1 silence inhibited OC progression by suppressing cell proliferation and promoting cell apoptosis. Importantly, BBOX1-AS1 was verified to bind to miR-361-3p, which presented a low expression trend in OC cells. Subsequently, PODXL was testified as the downstream target of miR-361-3p. Of note, BBOX1-AS1 positively regulated PODXL through their competition in binding with miR-361-3p. Furthermore, miR-361-3p inhibition facilitated the growth of BBOX1-AS1-deficient OC cells, while such facilitating effect was then counteracted in response to PODXL depletion. All the results above explained that BBOX1-AS1 was overexpressed in OC and that BBOX1-AS1 caused carcinogenic influences on OC cell growth via miR-361-3p/PODXL pathway, highlighting BBOX1-AS1 as a novel potential target for OC treatment.