Long noncoding RNA HOST2, working as a competitive endogenous RNA, promotes STAT3-mediated cell proliferation and migration via decoying of let-7b in triple-negative breast cancer

Background Human ovarian cancer specific transcript 2 (HOST2) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) reported to be specifically high expressed in human ovarian cancer. However, the mechanism that how HOST2 regulates triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) need to be explored. Methods In this study, expression of HOST2 was determined in 40 TNBC patients and matched non-cancerous tissues by qRT-PCR and in situ hybridization (ISH) assay. The biological functions of HOST2 was measured by losing features. The effect of HOST2 on viability, proliferation and migration was evaluated by MTT, colony formation assay, EDU analysis, transwell invasion assay and nude mouse xenograft model. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), Luciferase report assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay and Western blot were fulfilled to measure molecular mechanisms. Results The results showed that HOST2 was up-regulated in BC tissues and cell lines. Clinical outcome analysis demonstrated that high expression of HOST2 was associated with poor prognosis of TNBC patients. Functional experiments illustrated that knockdown of HOST2 significantly suppressed TNBC cell proliferation and migration. Western blot assays, qRT-PCR assays, RIP assays and luciferase reporter assays revealed that HOST2 regulated STAT3 via crosstalk with let-7b. Depression of HOST2 suppressed STAT3-mediated proliferation and migration in TNBC cells. HOST2 could function as a decoy of let-7b to depress expression of STAT3. Conclusions HOST2 could function as a oncogene and promoted STAT3-mediated proliferation and migration through acting as a competing endogenous RNA, which might act as a potential biomarker for TNBC patients.