Long noncoding RNA C-Terminal binding protein 1 antisense regulates ovarian granulosa cells proliferation and autophagy and participates in polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) C-Terminal binding protein 1 antisense (CTBP1-AS) was reported that it is associated with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in Chinese population and established the possibility that abnormal CTBP1-AS expression is a risk factor for PCOS, while the role of LncRNA CTBP1-AS in PCOS is not very clear. We speculated that lncRNA CTBP1-AS can regulates ovarian granulosa cells proliferation and autophagy and participates in polycystic ovary syndrome. This study was therefore carried out to explore its role in PCOS. In this study, 40 patients with PCOS and 40 controls were enrolled. The expression of lncRNA CTBP1-AS were analyzed by qRT-PCR. The direct interaction between lncRNA CTBP1-AS and proliferation was explored with Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK8), Colony formation and Edu assay experiments. The qRT-PCR and Western blotting assay was used to detect the lncRNA CTBP1-AS effect on the expression of autophagy-related proteins LC3 and p62. The results showed that LC3-II/I and p62 expressions significantly increased and decreased, respectively, after lncRNA CTBP1-AS overexpression in ovarian granulosa cells. After knocking down the lncRNA CTBP1-AS expression in ovarian granulosa cells, LC3-II/I and p62 expressions significantly decreased and increased, respectively. These results suggest that lncRNA CTBP1-AS can promote autophagy of ovarian granulosa cells. The lncRNA CTBP1-AS expression in PCOS patients significantly increased, and lncRNA CTBP1-AS could promote the proliferation of ovarian granulosa cells and the level of autophagy.