Mechanism of lncRNA WARS2-IT1 promoting angiogenesis of glioma through miR-299-3P/VEGFA axis and activating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Glioma is a common primary intracranial tumor with easy recurrence and poor prognosis. Emerging evidence has highlighted the involvement of LncRNA in glioma proliferation, invasion, migration and angiogenesis, but at present, there is no relevant research on LncRNA WARS2-IT1. We performed qRT-PCR and Western blotting to evaluate the expression of related RNA in glioma. Cell Counting Kit-8, Scratch-healing test, Transwell, EDU test to assess the cell proliferation, migration and invasion ability in glioma and Tube formation assay contributed to endothelial cell angiogenesis. Apoptosis was measured via flow cytometry. Bioinformatics prediction and dual-luciferase reporter assays were conducted to validate the regulatory interactions in T98G and U251 cell lines. Results showed that lncRNA WARS2-IT1 and VEGFA were highly expressed in glioma cells, while miR-299-3p was enriched in normal glial HEB cells. WARS2-IT1 Knockdown significantly suppressed glioma cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and endothelial angiogenesis, while promoting apoptosis. Mechanistically, WARS2-IT1 harbored a complementary binding site for miR-299-3p, which directly targeted the 3-UTR of VEGFA. Further analysis revealed that WARS2-IT1 promotes glioma progression and angiogenesis through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. These findings suggest that the oncogenic lncRNA WARS2-IT1 contributes to glioma pathogenesis by upregulating VEGFA via sponging miR-299-3p, highlighting its therapeutic target potentiality. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10616-025-00824-5.