HCG11 up-regulation induced by ELK4 suppressed proliferation in vestibular schwannoma by targeting miR-620/ELK4.

Background: Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is a kind of benign tumor deriving from the acoustic nerve sheath. Substantial long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were illustrated to have crucial roles in multiple cancers. However, few lncRNAs were elucidated in VS.

Methods: HCG11, miR-620 and ELK4 expression were tested by RT-qPCR. Gain-of-function experiments were conducted to confirm the effect of HCG11 on VS.

Results: HCG11 possessed a low expression in VS cell lines. Overexpression of HCG11 repressed cell proliferation but accelerated apoptosis of VS cells. Moreover, we identified ELK4 stimulated the transcription of HCG11 and their affinity was verified by ChIP assays. MiR-620 was chosen to be a target of HCG11 and it was tested to have a high expression in VS cell lines. Moreover, depletion of miR-620 could inhibit cell proliferative ability while fostering apoptosis rate of VS cells. ELK4 was low expressed in VS cell lines and knockdown of ELK4 could rescue the effects made by HCG11 overexpression on progression of VS.

Conclusions: HCG11 could inhibit the growth of VS by targeting miR-620/ELK4 in VS cells. HCG11 was a novel therapeutic target for VS treatment.