Long noncoding RNA SH3PXD2A-AS1 promotes NSCLC proliferation and accelerates cell cycle progression by interacting with DHX9

Abstract Background As the most commonly diagnosed lung cancer, non–small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is regulated by many long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). In the present study, we found that SH3PXD2A-AS1 expression in NSCLC tissues was upregulated compared with that in normal lung tissues in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. However, the role and molecular mechanism of SH3PXD2A-AS1 in NSCLC progression require further exploration. Methods The expression of SH3PXD2A-AS1 in NSCLC and normal lung tissues in a TCGA dataset was analysed by using the GEPIA website. K-M analysis was performed to explore the effects of this molecule on the survival rate in NSCLC. The functional characterization of the role and molecular mechanism of SH3PXD2A-AS1 in NSCLC was performed with a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments. Results SH3PXD2A-AS1 expression was increased in human NSCLC, and high SH3PXD2A-AS1 expression was correlated with poor overall survival. SH3PXD2A-AS1 overexpression sufficiently promoted tumour cell proliferation and accelerated cell cycle progression in vitro and tumour growth in vivo. Moreover, SH3PXD2A-AS1 interacted with DHX9 to enhance FOXM1 expression, promote tumour cell proliferation and accelerate cell cycle progression. Conclusions SH3PXD2A-AS1 promoted NSCLC growth by interacting with DHX9 to enhance FOXM1 expression. SH3PXD2A-AS1 may serve as a promising predictive biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with NSCLC.