Up-regulation of SNHG6 activates SERPINH1 expression by competitive binding to miR-139-5p to promote hepatocellular carcinoma progression

We aimed to assess the roles of small nucleolar RNA host gene 6 (SNHG6) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression, and establish the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulation mechanism for HCC therapy. SNHG6 is one of the host genes in small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs), which make a difference in the development of human cancers. SERPINH1 is a gene encoding a member of the serpin superfamily of serine proteinase inhibitors with miRNA predicted by TargetScan and DIANA Tools. SNHG6, serpin family H member 1 (SERPINH1) and miR-139-5p expression levels in HCC tissues and cells were determined by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Migration and invasion of HCC cells were measured by transwell assay. Cell cycle analysis was determined by using flow cytometry. 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and colony formation assay were performed for cell viability analysis. The expression of SERPINH1 was detected by qRT-PCR and western blot. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was conducted to identify the targeted relationship between miR-139-5p and SNHG6, as well as SERPINH1 and miR-139-5p. The positive regulation between SNHG6 and SERPINH1 was demonstrated in this study. In contrast, miR-139-5p was significantly down-regulated in HCC cells, the inhibition of miR-139-5p promotes the proliferation of HCC cells, and accelerated the cell cycle of HCC cells. Our study demonstrated the co-expression of SNHG6 and SERPINH1 in HCC cells for the first time, which revealed that SNHG6 could serve as a novel oncogene for the HCC therapy by its regulation.