LncRNA HCG18 promotes prostate cancer progression by regulating the miR-512-3p/HK-2 axis

Objective: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in tumor progression. Numerous studies show that lncRNAs are strongly associated with prostate cancer (PCa) progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the pathway through which lncRNA HCG18 regulates PCa progression by bioinformatics analysis and experiments.

Methods: We compared HCG18 expression in PCa versus normal tissue and cells by data and cell lines, followed by comparing the changes in tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasive ability after knockdown of HCG18. Then we searched for its downstream pathway by database and validated the pathway in vivo and in vitro.

Results: HCG18 was highly expressed in PCa and has the ability to promote tumor proliferation, migration, and invasion; knockdown of HCG18 led to a decrease in the ability of cells to do so, which can be reversed by knockdown of miR-512-3p or overexpression of hexokinase 2.

Conclusion: Our in vivo and in vitro experiments suggest that HCG18 can play a role in promoting PCa progression by blocking the inhibition of hexokinase 2 by miR-512-3p via sponge adsorption.