lncRNA CTBP1-AS2 promotes proliferation and migration of glioma by modulating miR-370-3p-Wnt7a-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Glioma is one of the most common and aggressive malignant primary brain tumors, with a poor 5-year survival rate. The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) CTBP1-AS2 has been shown to be correlated with the prognosis of cancer, but the role of CTBP1-AS2 in glioma and its concrete mechanism is fully unknown. The clinical data and tissues of glioma patients were analyzed. Cell viability and migration assays were performed. Western blotting and qRT-PCR were adopted for investigation of target protein expressions. Double luciferase assay was used to investigate the interaction between different elements. The lncRNA CFBP1-AS2 had increased expression profiles in tumor tissues, which is associated with poor prognosis. In detail, CTBP1-AS2 knockdown decreased proliferation and migration phenotypes in both U87-MG and LN229 cells. Moreover, CTBP1-AS2 knockdown suppressed the key epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers by downregulating Wnt7a-mediated signaling. Furthermore, miR-370-3p functioned as a link that could be absorbed by CTBP1-AS2, thus regulating Wnt7a expression. Lastly, the CTBP1-AS2-miR-370-3p-Wnt7a axis modulated EMT in glioma cells in vitro and in vivo. This study provides new insights that a novel lncRNA, CTBP1-AS2, regulates EMT of glioma by modulating the miR-370-3p-Wnt7a axis.