Long non-coding RNA CACNA1G-AS1 promotes proliferation and invasion and inhibits apoptosis by regulating expression of miR-205 in human keloid fibroblasts

Background: Keloid is a fibrous tissue proliferative disease in which proliferative scars grow beyond the boundary of the original wound skin. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), bind to microRNAs (miRNAs) to regulate various biological processes. The present study was aim to illuminate the mechanism of calcium voltage-gated channel subunit alpha1 G antisense RNA 1 (CACNA1G-AS1) in human keloid fibroblasts. Methods: CACNA1G-AS1 and miR-205 levels were detected using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to measure the proliferation and transwell assay was performed to evaluate cell invasion. Furthermore, the apoptosis rates of cells were evaluated by flow cytometry analysis, and the activity of caspase-3 in keloid fibroblasts was tested by Caspase-3 activity assay. Dual luciferase reporter assay was carried out to examine the relationship between CACNA1G-AS1 and miR-205 and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay was conducted to further confirm the relation. Results: CACNA1G-AS1 level was up-regulated in keloid tissues and keloid fibroblasts. CACNA1G-AS1 overexpression promoted proliferation and invasion and suppressed apoptosis of keloid fibroblasts. Moreover, miR-205 was targeted by CACNA1G-AS1 and miR-205 was markedly decreased in keloid tissues and keloid fibroblasts. Also, miR-205 expression was negatively regulated by CACNA1G-AS1 and miR-205 silencing enhanced proliferation and invasion and inhibited apoptosis. Furthermore, CACNA1G-AS1 and miR-205 played the antagonistic role in miR-205 expression, proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis of keloid fibroblasts. Conclusion: CACNA1G-AS1 suppressed miR-205 expression to promote proliferation and invasion and inhibit apoptosis in human keloid fibroblasts.