Small Nucleolar RNA Host Gene 18 Acts as a Tumor Suppressor and a Diagnostic Indicator in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Background:Noncoding RNAs are crucial regulators acting as either tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes in human cancer progression. The aberrant expression of noncoding RNAs has been confirmed in different kinds of cancers. Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide, characterized by insidious onset, great malignancy, and high rates of recurrence and metastasis. Due to lack of early predictive markers, numerous patients are diagnosed in the late stages. As therapeutic options for advanced patients are quite limited, great efforts have been made to screen patients at early stages. A previous study reported that small nucleolar RNA host gene 18 played crucial role in glioma. However, its functions and roles in hepatocellular carcinoma are unknown.Purpose:To explore its functional role and diagnostic value in hepatocellular carcinoma, we investigated its expression level.Methods:We performed real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction in tumor tissues and adjacent noncancerous tissues derived from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma as well as in plasma, including samples from the healthy control, patients with hepatitis B, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma.Results:Small nucleolar RNA host gene 18 was downregulated in liver tissues compared to paired adjacent noncancerous tissues (P < .0001). Meanwhile, plasma small nucleolar RNA host gene 18 showed a relatively high sensitivity and specificity (75.61% and 73.49%) for distinguishing patients with hepatocellular carcinoma whose α-fetoprotein levels were below 200 ng/mL from the healthy controls.Conclusion:Our study suggested that small nucleolar RNA host gene 18 might act as a tumor suppressor gene in hepatocellular carcinoma and potentially a diagnostic indicator to distinguish hepatocellular carcinoma from the healthy control and cirrhosis.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Down-regulated lncRNA DLX6-AS1 inhibits tumorigenesis through STAT3 signaling pathway by suppressing CADM1 promoter methylation in liver cancer stem cells

“…HCC is well recognized malignant tumor worldwide, which is characterized by high malignancy, a high risk of metastasis, as well as high occurrence and recurrence rates [22]. Current standard treatment approaches for treating patients with HCC remain unsatisfactory due to poor prognosis rates despite early detection.…”

High Expression Levels of Long Noncoding RNA Small Nucleolar RNA Host Gene 18 and Semaphorin 5A Indicate Poor Prognosis in Multiple Myeloma

“…By using in situ hybridization, they showed that SNHG18 is located in both the nucleus and cytoplasm, indicating that it might regulate DNA transcription, mRNA stability, and translation. Liu et al [11] revealed that SNHG18 was significantly downregulated in HCC tissues compared to the corresponding noncancerous tissues. SNHG18 levels were correlated with tumor size and serum AFP levels in HCC tissues.…”

“…SNHG18 was only found to be significantly upregulated in clinical glioma tissues and downregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue specimens at present [10, 11]. We know little about the function of SNHG18 and its possible coding target genes.…”

Identification of snoRNA SNORA71A as a Novel Biomarker in Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…For instance, snoRNA SNHG1 promoted tumorigenesis and progression of colorectal cancer via negative regulation of miR-137 [ 11 ]. Besides, snoRNA SNORA18 acted as a tumor suppressor gene in hepatocellular carcinoma [ 12 ].…”