LncRNA MNX1‐AS1 promotes the progression of cervical cancer through activating MAPK pathway

Abstract Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been discovered as significant regulators in a wide range of human cancers. Among them, lncRNA MNX1‐AS1 has been proved to be an oncogene in ovarian cancer and glioblastoma. However, the regulatory mechanism of MNX1‐AS1 in cervical cancer remains to be understood. Therefore, this study planned to explore the role of MNX1‐AS1 in cervical cancer. In the beginning, we found that the expression of MNX1‐AS1 was obviously upregulated in cervical cancer tissues and cell lines. Kaplan‐Meier survival analysis revealed that patients with higher MNX1‐AS1 expression level suffered from shorter overall survival time than those with lower MNX1‐AS1 level. Moreover, by loss‐of‐function and gain‐of‐function assay, the effect of MNX1‐AS1 on cell proliferation and apoptosis was examined on cellular level. Results showed that the proliferation of Hela cells was significantly inhibited and apoptosis enhanced by the transfection of shMNX1‐AS1, while overexpressing MNX1‐AS1 in E6E7 cells presented the contrary results. As for mechanism investigation, it was demonstrated that overexpression of MNX1‐AS1 significantly improved the expression of p‐ERK1/2 and p‐JNK. And the effects of MNX1‐AS1 on cell proliferation and apoptosis would be diminished after inactivating the phosphorylation of either ERK or JNK. Taken together, it was identified that MNX1‐AS1 promoted proliferation and inhibited apoptosis of cervical cancer cells through MAPK pathway.