Further mechanistic study identified that SNHG16 functions as an endogenous sponge for miR-140-5p in HepG2 cells, and in HCC tissues, the expression of miR-140-5p is negatively correlated with SNHG16 expression.
Taken together, our study suggested that SBF2-AS1 modulated TGFBR1 through sponging miR-140-5p in HCC development and progression indicating that SBF2-AS1 might be further chosen as a potential anticancer therapeutic target and a promising prognostic biomarker for HCC.
Given prevalent miR-140-5p downregulation in other cancers and major impact of Pin1 overexpression on activating numerous cancer-driving pathways including global miRNA downregulation, the miR-140-5p/Pin1 axis may play a major role in tumorigenesis and offer promising therapeutic targets for HCC and other cancers.