Increasing evidence suggests that the long non-coding RNA, HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) is widely involved in the progression and metastasis of cancer. However, the specific role of HOTAIR in ovarian carcinogenesis remains to be fully elucidated. In the present study, the levels of HOTAIR were detected in 30 paired cancer and noncancer tissues using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. The effect of HOTAIR on the ovarian cancer cells was examined by overexpression or small interfering RNA interference experiments. To examine the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNAs) mechanism, a luciferase reporter assay was used. In patients with ovarian cancer, HOTAIR was significantly upregulated. Furthermore, the upregulation of HOTAIR increased the proliferation, migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells. By contrast, the knockdown of HOTAIR repressed cell invasion and viability. HOTAIR functioned as a ceRNA, and acted as a sink for microRNA (miR)‑373, thereby regulating the expression of Rab22a. The upregulation of HOTAIR contributed to the malignant progression of ovarian cancer cells. Therefore, the positive regulation between HOTAIR and Rab22a can be partially attributed to the ceRNA regulatory network through miR-373.
Adult Apoptosis