Long noncoding RNA SNHG20 regulates cell migration, invasion, and proliferation via the microRNA-19b-3p/RAB14 axis in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common digestive tumors, which has high mortality rate. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) and MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are associated with the cell cycle and differentiation during the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. This research aimed to investigate the effects of lncRNA SNHG20 on the progress of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells. Ninety pairs of tumor tissues and paracancerous tissues were collected from patients with OSCC and the CAL27 and SCC25 OSCC cells were selected for the following experiments. RT-qPCR was used for detecting the expression of SNHG20, miR-19b-3p, and RAB14. Western blotting was used to detect the protein levels of RAB14. MTT assay was employed to assess cell proliferation. Transwell assay was used to determine the cell migration and invasion abilities. Furthermore, luciferase reporter and RNA pull-down assays were used to verify the binding of SNHG20/RAB14 to miR-19b-3p. Then, the function of the SNHG20/miR-19b-3p/RAB14 axis in OSCC was explored. The results indicated that lncRNA SNHG20 was upregulated in the tissues. Furthermore, bioinformatic analysis showed that both SNHG20 and RAB14 could bind to miR-19b-3p. RAB14 was upregulated, and miR-19b-3p was downregulated in the tissues. The knockdown of SNHG20 inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Contrarily, the knockdown of miR-19b-3p reversed the effects of si-SNHG20 on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and the overexpression of RAB14 reversed the effects of miR-19b-3p mimic on the cell biological functions. LncRNA SNHG20 affects cell proliferation, migration, and invasion via the miR-19b-3p/RAB14 axis in OSCC.