Downregulation of lncRNA NEAT1_2 radiosensitizes hepatocellular carcinoma cells through regulation of miR-101-3p/WEE1 axis

Radioresistance is a major obstacle in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) radiotherapy. Aberrant expression of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) has been postulated to be implicated in the development of HCC radioresistance. We investigated the role of lncRNA nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1_2 (NEAT1_2) in radioresistance of HCC and its molecular mechanism in this study. We found that NEAT1_2 and WEE1 were upregulated, and miR-101-3p was downregulated in HCC tissues, as well as HCC cell lines. Downregulation of WEE1 sensitized the radiosensitivity of HCC cells, as evidenced by decreased survival fractions of Huh7 and PLC5 cells and increased percentage of apoptotic cells. Also, knockdown of NEAT1_2 exerted a reinforcing effect on the radiosensitivity of HCC cells. In addition, WEE1 was confirmed as a direct target of miR-101-3p. Upregulation of miR-101-3p obviously decreased the mRNA and protein levels of WEE1 compared with that in the miR-NC group, while transfection of anta-miR-101-3p presented the opposite effects. In parallel, NEAT1_2 was identified to interact with miR-101-3p, and NEAT1_2 upregulated the expression of WEE1 in Huh7 cells through sponging miR-101-3p. Besides, the reinforcing effect of NEAT1_2 silencing could be attenuated by downregulation of miR-101-3p. To conclude, our results support the concept that downregulation of lncRNA NEAT1_2 radiosensitizes hepatocellular carcinoma cells through regulation of miR-101-3p/WEE1 axis.