LncRNA SNHG17 predicts poor prognosis and promotes cell proliferation and migration in hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the role of long noncoding RNAs small nucleolar RNA host gene 17 (SNHG17) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Here, the expression level of SHNG17 was determined using reverse-transcription quantitative PCR in tissue specimens and cell lines. The chi-squared test was used to analyze the associations between SNHG17 expression and clinical pathological factors in HCC patients. Kaplan-Meier and logrank analyses were used to evaluate the prognosis of HCC patients, and proportional hazards model (Cox) regression was utilized for univariate and multivariate analyses. Knockdown of SNHG17 was achieved by transfection with si-SNHG17 in HepG2 and SNU-182 cells. Cell function was analyzed using CCK-8 assay. colony formation assay, Flow cytometry analysis and transwell assays. RESULTS: Our data showed that SNHG17 expression was significantly upregulated in cancer regions of HCC compared with adjacent regions. Increased SNHG17 expression level was correlated with tumor size, TNM stage and poor survival prognosis in HCC patients. Further functional experiments indicated that inhibition of SNHG17 significantly inhibited HCC cell proliferation. migration and invasion, caused cell cycle G0/G1 phase arrest and apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, our findings suggest that SNHG17 might function as novel therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.