Background
Alkylating agents are critical therapeutic options for melanoma, while dacarbazine (DTIC)-based chemotherapy showed poor sensitivity in clinical trials. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were highlighted in the progression of malignant tumors in recent years, whereas little was known about their involvement in melanoma.
Conclusion
LncRNA POU3F3 upregulated the expression of MGMT by sponging miR-650, which is a crucial way for DTIC resistance in melanoma. Our results indicated that lncRNA POU3F3 was a valuable biomarker for the disease progression of melanoma.
Methods
The functional role and molecular mechanism of lncRNA POU3F3 were evaluated on DTIC-resistant melanoma cells. Further studies analyzed its clinical role in the disease progression of melanoma.
Results
We observed elevated the expression of lncRNA POU3F3 in the DTIC-resistant melanoma cells. Gain-of-function assays showed that the overexpression of lncRNA POU3F3 maintained cell survival with DTIC treatment, while the knockdown of lncRNA POU3F3 restored cell sensitivity to DTIC. A positive correlation of the expression O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) was observed with lncRNA POU3F3 in vitro and in vivo. Bioinformatic analyses predicted that miR-650 was involved in the lncRNA POU3F3-regulated MGMT expression. Molecular analysis indicated that lncRNA POU3F3 worked as a competitive endogenous RNA to regulate the levels of miR-650, and the lncRNA POU3F3/miR-650 axis determined the transcription of MGMT in melanoma cells to a greater extent. Further clinical studies supported that lncRNA POU3F3 was a risk factor for the disease progression of melanoma.