Long Noncoding RNA HOXA-AS2 Functions as an Oncogene by Binding to EZH2 and Suppressing LATS2 in AML

Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) plays an important role in the development of physiology and pathology. Many reports have shown that LncRNA HOXA cluster antisense RNA 2 (HOXA-AS2) is a carcinogen and plays an important role in many tumors, but there are few reports on its role in Acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Methods: The expression of HOXA-AS2 in AML cell line was detected by qRT-PCR. AML cases from the public database (GEPIA) were also included in this study. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence and Western blot were used to detect the role of HOXA-AS2 in AML cells. Luciferase reporter gene detection, RIP, RNA pull-down and RNA-ChIP detection were used to demonstrate the molecular biological mechanism of HOXA-AS2 in AML. Results: Our results show that HOXA-AS2 was upregulated in AML cell lines and tissues, and the overexpression of HOXA-AS2 is negatively correlated with the survival of patients. Silencing HOXA-AS2 can inhibit the proliferation and induce differentiation of AML cells in vitro and in vivo. After overexpressing HOXA-AS2, it will show the opposite result. Moreover, more in-depth mechanism studies show that HOXA-AS2 exerts its carcinogenicity mainly by binding with the epigenetic inhibitor Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and then inhibiting the expression of Large Tumor Suppressor 2 (LATS2). Conclusions: Taken together, our results highlight the important role of HOXA-AS2 in AML, suggesting that HOXA-AS2 may be an effective therapeutic target for patients with AML.