RETRACTED ARTICLE: Linc00152 promotes malignant progression of glioma stem cells by regulating miR-103a-3p/FEZF1/CDC25A pathway

As shown in Additional file 1: Figure S1A, GSCs-87 (or GSCs-251) isolated from glioma cells were cultured in the serum-free medium and formed cell spheres. Immunofluorescence analysis indicated that most cells within spheres were positive to neural stem cell lineage markers Nestin and CD133 (Additional file 1: Figure S1B). During the differentiation assay, single-cell suspensions of spheres were differentiated and stained with GFAP and β-tubulin III, implying that isolated GSCs-87 and GSCs-251 possessed the potential for differentiation toward astrocytic and neuronal lineages (Additional file 1: Figure S1C).

The linc00152 and miR-103a-3p expression levels in normal brain tissues(NBTs), grade I-II (low grade) and grade III-IV (high grade) glioma tissues, as well as in GSCs and non stem cells (non-GSCs) were evaluated by qRT-PCR. As shown in Fig. 1a-b, linc00152 expression levels elevated with the pathological grades of glioma tissues and were apparently up-regulated in GSCs compared with non-GSCs. However, expression of miR-103a-3p was negatively correlated with the progression of glioma pathological grade and was distinctly down-regulated in GSCs compared with non-GSCs (Fig. 2a-b).

Following the evaluation of linc00152 expression in GSCs, we further explored the possible effect of linc00152 on the proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of GSCs. Stable linc00152 silenced constructs were used to appraise the function of linc00152 on GSCs. The RT-PCR assay was applied to demonstrate the linc00152 knockdown (Fig. 1c). The Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay suggested that GSCs proliferation was declined in the sh-linc00152 group than that in the sh-NC group (Fig. 1d). The limiting dilution assay implied that knockdown of linc00152 hindered the sphere-formation ability of GSCs (Fig. 1e). The migration and invasion of GSCs assay showed that the numbers of migrated and invaded cells in the sh-linc00152 group were significantly decreased compared with the sh-NC group (Fig. 1f). Flow cytometry analysis implied that silence of linc00152 markedly increased apoptosis of GSCs (Fig. 1g). Taken together, linc00152 functioned as an oncogene in GSCs.

Had appraised the miR-103a-3p expression in GSCs, we assessed the effect of miR-103a-3p on GSCs and transfected miR-103a-3p-agomir (pre-miR-103a-3p) and miR-103a-3p-antagomir (anti-miR-103a-3p) into GSCs, respectively. The RT-PCR assay was applied to detect the transfection efficiency of miR-103a-3p (Fig. 2c). As shown in Fig. 2d, pre-miR-103a-3p group emerged a significantly declined proliferation in GSCs compared to the pre-NC group. The limiting dilution assay implied that over-expression of miR-103a-3p hindered the sphere-formation ability of GSCs (Fig. 2e). Transwell assays implied that migrated and invaded cell numbers were remarkably decreased in pre-miR-103a-3p group than in pre-NC group (Fig. 2f). Flow cytometry analysis suggested that over-expression of miR-103a-3p markedly promoted apoptosis of GSCs (Fig. 2g). The results above inferred that miR-103a-3p, in contrast to linc00152, appeared as tumor-suppressive function in GSCs.

Increasing evidence implied that lncRNAs could be competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) or molecular sponges in affecting the expression and biological functions of miRNAs [24]. Using a bioinformatics database (Starbase), linc00152 harbor one conjectural binding site of miR-103a-3p. To certify the prediction that miR-103a-3p could directly bind to linc00152, we detected the expression of miR-103a-3p in sh-linc00152 GSCs by qRT-PCR. MiR-103a-3p expression was raised in the sh-linc00152 group whereas not in the sh-NC group. In comparison, linc00152 expression declined in the pre-miR-103a-3p group comparing with the pre-NC group (Fig. 3a). In addition, the correlation between expression of linc00152 and miR-103a-3p in glioma tissues was detected by qRT-PCR. As shown in Fig. 3b, miR-103a-3p expression was negatively correlated with linc00152 expression. The best fit slope was −4.243 (P < 0.01). Dual-luciferase gene reporter assays were employed to assess the binding sites of linc00152 and miR-103a-3p. The luciferase activity was dramatic decline in the linc00152-wt + miR-103a-3p group than in the Control group (Fig. 3d), while there was no distinction between the linc00152-mut + miR-103a-3p group and the Control group in luciferase activity, indicating the presence of a binding site between linc00152 and miR-103a-3p. In summary, linc00152 is a direct target of miR-103a-3p and there might be a reciprocal repression feedback loop between linc00152 and miR-103a-3p.

Ulteriorly, to explore the tumor-suppressive effects of linc00152 knockdown were mediated by miR-103a-3p, GSCs were divided into nine groups: the Control group, the sh-NC + pre-NC group (cells stably expressing sh-NC, co-transfected with pre-NC), sh-linc00152 + pre-NC group (cells stably expressing sh-linc00152, co-transfected with pre-NC), sh-NC + pre-miR-103a-3p group (cells stably expressing sh-NC, co-transfected with pre-miR-103a-3p), sh-linc00152 + pre-miR-103a-3p group (cells stably expressing sh-linc00152, co-transfected with pre-miR-103a-3p), sh-NC + anti-NC group (cells stably expressing sh-NC, co-transfected with anti-NC), sh-linc00152 + anti-NC group (cells stably expressing sh-linc00152, co-transfected with anti-NC), sh-NC + anti-miR-103a-3p group (cells stably expressing sh-NC, co-transfected with anti-miR-103a-3p) and sh-linc00152 + anti-miR-103a-3p group (cells stably expressing sh-linc00152, co-transfected with anti-miR-103a-3p). CCK8 assay indicated that GSCs proliferation was significantly decreased in the sh-linc00152 + pre-NC group, sh-NC + pre-miR-103a-3p group and sh-linc00152 + pre-miR-103a-3p group than the sh-NC + pre-NC group, respectively (Fig. 3e). Moreover, the numbers of GSC migration and invasion were dramatically declined in the sh-linc00152 + pre-NC group, sh-NC + pre-miR-103a-3p group and sh-linc00152 + pre-miR-103a-3p group than in the sh-NC + pre-NC group, respectively (Fig. 3f-g). In addition, GSCs of sh-linc00152 + pre-NC group, sh-NC + pre-miR-103a-3p group and sh-linc00152 + pre-miR-103a-3p group manifested higher apoptosis rates compared with the sh-NC + pre-NC group, respectively (Fig. 3h). The data above implied that miR-103a-3p mediated the tumor suppressive effects of linc00152 knockdown in GSCs.

The above results uncovered that linc00152 and miR-103a-3p have remarkable impacts on the biological behaviors of GSCs, but the latent molecular mechanisms remain blurry. Bioinformatics database (Targetscan) speculated that several genes would be downstream targets of miR-103a-3p, including FEZF1. Next, we appraised the impact of linc00152 or miR-103a-3p on mRNA and protein levels of FEZF1 by qRT-PCR and western blot, and noticed expression level of FEZF1 was prominently affected among the predicted downstream genes of miR-103a-3p. Then, the expression level of FEZF1 in GSCs was explored, which was transfected with sh-linc00152, pre-miR-103a-3p or anti-miR-103a-3p. As shown in Fig. 4a and c, expression of FEZF1 was declined in the sh-linc00152 group comparing with the sh-NC group. On the contrary, cells in anti-miR-103a-3p group manifested higher levels of FEZF1 than those in anti-NC group (Fig. 4b and d).

In addition, FEZF1 expression was lower in the sh-linc00152 + pre-NC group, sh-NC + pre-miR-103a-3p group and sh-linc00152 + pre-miR-103a-3p group comparing with the NC group, repectively (Fig. 4e). The data above indicated that FEZF1 was involved in the linc00152/miR-103a-3p dependent malignant progression of GSCs.

After verified FEZF1 was a target of miR-103a-3p, we investigated the protein levels of FEZF1 in NBTs, glioma tissues and GSCs by Western blot. As shown in Fig. 5a-b, FEZF1 protein levels elevated with the pathological grades of glioma tissues and were apparently up-regulated in GSCs compared with non-GSCs. In consequence, we conjectured that FEZF1 facilitated the malignant progression of GSCs and detected the effect of FEZF1 on the proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of GSCs. As shown in Fig. 5c, the CCK8 assay implied that proliferation of GSCs was raised in the FEZF1(+) groups compared with the FEZF1(+)-NC group. Transwell assays indicated that migration and invasion capacity of GSCs in the FEZF1(+) group were stronger than that in the FEZF1(+)-NC group (Fig. 5d). Further, up-regulated FEZF1 dramatically suppressed apoptosis in GSCs compared with the NC group (Fig. 5e).

To further affirm whether FEZF1 is a direct target of miR-103a-3p, luciferase assay was carried out. Luciferase activity was dramatically declined in cells co-transfected with pre-miR-103a-3p and FEZF1-wt (Fig. 4g), illustrated that FEZF1 was a direct target of miR-103a-3p. Nevertheless, there was no significant difference between FEZF1-mut + pre-miR-103a-3p group and FEZF1-mut + miR-103a-3p-NC group, suggesting the specific binding site of miR-103a-3p in the FEZF1- 3′-UTR.

Furthermore, to explore whether miR-103a-3p suppressed GSC malignant evolution were mediated by FEZF1, down-regulated FEZF1 by pre-miR-103a-3p was rescued using FEZF1 prior to the assessment of the cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis. CCK8 assay indicated that miR-103a-3p over-expression restrained the proliferation of GSCs, whereas FEZF1 over-expression accelerated the proliferation of GSCs. FEZF1 over-expression rescued the inhibitory effect of miR-103a-3p over-expression on the proliferation of GSCs (Fig. 6b). Besides, transwell assay revealed that miR-103a-3p over-expression impaired the migrating and invading capacity of GSCs, while FEZF1 over-expression showed the contrary result. FEZF1 over-expression rescued the impaired migration and invasion of GSCs induced by miR-103a-3p over-expression (Fig. 6c). Further, flow cytometry analysis implied that over-expression of miR-103a-3p promoted apoptosis of GSCs, whereas over-expression of FEZF1 suggested the opposite result. FEZF1 over-expression rescued the enhancement of miR-103a-3p over-expression on the apoptisis of GSCs (Fig. 6d). These results revealed that FEZF1 mediated the tumor-suppressive effects of miR-103a-3p over-expression on GSCs.

The results above revealed that FEZF1 exerted oncogenic role by facilitating malignant biological behaviors of GSCs. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains indistinct. Both FEZF1 and FEZF2 belong to the forebrain embryonic zinc finger (Fez) family [25], and as previous report, CnnCAnCn core, which was found in promoter region of CDC25A by DBTSS database (http://​dbtss.​hgc.​jp/​), was identified as putative consensus FEZF2 binding site [21]. In addition, FEZF1 and FEZF2 were reported to have the same target gene [22]. Therefore, we hypothesized FEZF1 could bind with CDC25A.

Recent research identified CDC25A as an oncogene and over-expression of CDC25A promoted a variety of tumors. CDC25A was observed high expression in lung cancer [26, 27] and high expression of CDC25A predicted poor prognosis in human lung adenocarcinoma [28]. Moreover, up-regulation of CDC25A was reported to enhance cell proliferation, which possibly mediated chemoresistance in human AML [29]. To confirm whether CDC25A was regulated by FEZF1 in GSCs, qRT-PCR and western blot analysis was carried out.

As shown in Fig. 5f-g, expression of CDC25A protein and mRNA were enhanced in FEZF1(+) group comparing with FEZF1 (+)-NC group. In GSCs co-transfected with miR-103a-3p and FEZF1, miR-103a-3p over-expression declined mRNA and protein expression of CDC25A, whereas FEZF1 over-expression increased the expression (Fig. 6a and e).

To verify whether FEZF1 is necessary for the promoter activity of CDC25A in GSCs, a suite of constructs were generated and luciferase assays were applied. The promoter sequences of CDC25A were set according to the database of DBTSS HOME (http://​dbtss.​hgc.​jp/). By analyzing these DNA sequences in the 3000 bp region upstream of the transcription start site (TSS) and its 100 bp downstream sequence, we confirmed two putative FEZF1 binding sites in CDC25A (Fig. 5i). So a suite of DNA fragments were constructed and ligated into the pGL3 basic vector. Wild-type, deletion construct and putative FEZF1 binding sites were indicated. After co-transfection with pEX3-FEZF1, deletion of the −707 site region significantly decreased the promoter activities of CDC25A. The results indicated that the responsive FEZF1-binding sites resided within −707 site region of CDC25A (Fig. 5h).

To explore whether FEZF1 directly associated with the promoters of CDC25A in GSCs, ChIP assay was applied. As a negative control, PCR was performed to amplify the 2000 bp upstream region of the putative FEZF1 binding site which was not supposed to associate with FEZF1. Our results showed that there was direct association of FEZF1 with putative binding site 2 of CDC25A. There was no association of FEZF1 with putative binding site 1 of CDC25A and the control regions (Fig. 5i). These results revealed that FEZF1 could up-regulate the promoter activities and bind to the promoter of CDC25A.

Up-regulated of CDC25A was discovered in human glioma specimens and depletion of CDC25A suppressed cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in glioma cell lines [30]. The results above implied a tumor promotion of CDC25A in glioma. However, the effect of CDC25A in GSCs was fuzzy. Hence, we detected the protein level of CDC25A in GSCs. As shown in Fig. 7a, CDC25A protein levels elevated dramatically in GSCs compared with the non-GSCs. Furthermore, we evaluated the effect of CDC25A on the proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of GSCs. As shown in Fig. 7b-c, over-expression of CDC25A promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion capacity of GSCs. Further, up-regulated CDC25A distinctly diminished apoptosis in GSCs compared with the NC group (Fig. 7d).

The results above illustrated CDC25A promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion in GSCs, and refrained the apoptosis of GSCs. To investigate the underlying molecular mechanism, we assessed the activity of PI3K/AKT pathway by Western blot assays. As shown in Fig. 7e, over-expression of CDC25A prompted the p-PI3K and p-AKT expression in GSCs. Besides, in GSCs co-transfected with miR-103a-3p and FEZF1, miR-103a-3p over-expression declined expression of CDC25A, P-AKT and P-PI3K, whereas FEZF1 over-expression increased the expression (Fig. 6e). These results demonstrated that CDC25A accelerated malignant biological behaviors of GSCs by promoting the PI3K/AKT pathway.

To further certify the above findings, an in vivo tumor model was employed. The results indicated that the linc00152 knockdown, miR-103a-3p over-expression, and linc00152 knockdown combined with over-expressed miR-103a-3p groups had smaller tumors compared with the linc00152(−)-NC + miR-103a-3p(+)-NC group (Fig. 8a-c). In addition, tumors in the linc00152(−) + miR-103a-3p(+) group manifested the smallest volume compared to the other groups (Fig. 8a-c). Moreover, mice in the linc00152(−) + miR-103a-3p(+) group had the longest survival time (Fig. 8d).

Grades of glioma were identified by neuropathologists according to WHO classification. Glioma specimens were divided into two groups: grade I–II glioma group (n = 10) and grade III–IV glioma group (n = 10). Normal brain tissues(NBTs) were used as the negative control group (n = 30). They were acquired from patients’ fresh autopsy material (donation from individuals who died in traffic accident and confirmed to be free of any prior pathologically detectable conditions).

Human glioma cell lines (U87, U251) and human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 T cells were purchased from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (Beijing, China). U87 glioma cells and HEK-293 cells were cultured in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle medium (DMEM)/high glucose with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS, Gibco, Carlsbad, CA, USA), U251 cells were cultured in DMEM/F12 medium with 10% FBS. All cells were maintained in a humidified incubator at 37 °C with 5% CO₂.

GSCs were seperated as described previously [54, 55]. In a nutshell, GSCs were cultured in DMEM/F-12 medium (Life Technologies Corporation, Grand Island, NY, USA) appended to basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF, 20 ng/mL, Life Technologies Corporation, Carlsbad, CA, USA), epidermal growth factor (EGF, 20 ng/mL, Life Technologies Corporation, Gaithersburg, MD, USA) and 2% B27 (Life Technologies Corporation, Grand Island, NY, USA). The serum-free medium was replaced every 2 days until the spheres were visible under microscopy. The spheres were centrifuged for 3 min at 1000 r.p.m. and harvested, then trypsinized into single-cell suspensions and plated into a 96-well plate for the limiting dilution assay and colon sphere formation by limiting dilution as described previously [56, 57]. For differentiation assay, sphere cells were plated onto glass coverslips coated with poly-L-ornithine (BD Biosciences, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) in medium containing 10% FBS for the differentiation assay. For immunostaining of undifferentiated spheres, cells were incubated with antibodies against Nestin and CD133 (1:100, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA, USA). For immunostaining of differentiated spheres, cells were stained with antibodies against GFAP (1:100, Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA) and beta-tubulin III (1:100, Santa Cruz Biotechnology). The primary antibody complexes were visualized with anti-rabbit Alexa Fluor 488 and anti-mouse Alexa Fluor 555 secondary antibodies (Beyotime Institute of Biotechnology, Jiangsu, China). Nuclei were counterstained with 4′, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI).

Short-hairpin RNA directed against human linc00152 plasmid (sh-linc00152), short-hairpin RNA directed against human FEZF1 plasmid (FEZF1(−)), short-hairpin RNA directed against human CDC25A plasmid (CDC25A(−)) and their respective non-targeting sequence (negative control, NC) were synthesized (GenePharma, Shanghai, China). FEZF1 full length (FEZF1(+)) plasmid, CDC25A full length (CDC25A(+)) plasmid, and their respective non-targeting sequence (negative control, NC) were synthesized (GenScript, Piscataway, NJ, USA). Glioma cells were transfected in 24-well plates using Opti-MEM and Lipofectamine 3000 reagents (Invitrogen, CA, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Stable cell lines were selected applying Geneticin (G418; Invitrogen, CA, USA). Four weeks later, G418-resistant cell clones were established. The over-expression and the silence efficiencies were evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). And then GSCs were isolated as previously described. To investigate the effect of linc00152 on GSCs, cells were divided into three groups: control group, sh-NC group (tansfected with empty plasmid) and sh-linc00152 group. To investigate the effect of FEZF1 on GSCs, cells were divided into five groups: control group, FEZF1(+)-NC group, FEZF1(+) group, FEZF1(−)-NC group and FEZF1(−) group. To investigate the effect of CDC25A on GSCs, cells were divided into five groups: control group, CDC25A(+)-NC group, CDC25A(+) group, CDC25A(−)-NC group and CDC25A(−) group.

MiR-103a-3p agomir (pre-miR-103a-3p), miR-103a-3p antagomir (anti-miR-103a-3p) and their respective negative control molecules (pre-NC and anti-NC) were synthesized (GenePharma, Shanghai, China). To investigate the effect of miR-103a-3p on GSCs, cells were divided into five groups: control group, pre-NC group, pre-miR-103a-3p group, anti-NC group and anti-miR-103a-3p group. To investigate whether linc00152 mediated regulation of miR-103a-3p expression could regulate the behavior of GSCs, cells were divided into five groups: control group, sh-NC + pre-NC group (sh-NC stable transfected cells co-transfected with pre-NC), sh-linc00152 + pre-miR-103a-3p group (sh-linc00152 stable transfected cells co-transfected with pre-miR-103a-3p), sh-NC + anti-NC group (sh-NC stable transfected cells co-transfected with anti-NC) and sh-linc00152 + anti-miR-103a-3p group (sh-linc00152 stable transfected cells co-transfected with anti-miR-103a-3p). To investigate the mechanism of FEZF1 regulated by miR-103a-3p to effect the behavior of GSCs, cells were divided into five groups: control group, pre-NC + FEZF1-NC group (FEZF1-NC stable transfected cells co-transfected with pre-NC), pre-miR-103a-3p + FEZF1-NC group (FEZF1-NC stable transfected cells co-transfected with pre-miR-103a-3p), pre-NC + FEZF1 group (FEZF1 stable transfected cells co-transfected with pre-NC) and pre-miR-103a-3p + FEZF1 group (FEZF1 stable transfected cells co-transfected with miR-103a-3p).

Total RNA was isolated from the glioma tissues, NBTs and cells using Trizol reagent (Life Technologies Corporation, Carlsbad, CA, USA). The RNA concentration was determined by 260/280 nm absorbance using a Nanodrop Spectrophotometer (ND-100, Thermo, USA). One-Step SYBR PrimeScript RT-PCR Kit (Perfect Real Time) (Takara Bio, Inc., Japan) was used for qRT-PCR detection of linc00152 and mRNA of FEZF1 and CDC25A. cDNA from miRNAs was generated by using a TaqMan miRNA Reverse Transcription kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). qRT-PCR was carried out by using TaqMan Universal Master Mix II with Taq-Man microRNA assays of miR-103a-3p and U6 (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). U6 and GAPDH were employed as endogenous controls for miRNA and gene expression detection. Expressions were normalized to endogenous controls and relative quantification (2^−ΔΔCt) method was used for fold changes’ calculating.

Cell proliferation was measured by conducting Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8, Beyotime Institute of Biotechnology, Jiangsu, China) assay. After transfection efficacy was measured, GSCs were dissociated with Accutase (Life Technologies Corporation, Carlsbad, CA, USA), resuspended, and seeded in 96-well plates at 2000 cells per well. Cells per well were added 10 μl CCK-8 solution and cultured for 2 h at 37 °C. The absorbance was recorded at 450 nm on a SpectraMax M5 microplate reader (Molecular Devices, USA).

Different amounts (2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500) of GSCs were seeded into a 96-well plate. Serum-free conditional culture medium (25 μl) was added to each well every 2 days. The percentage of wells without neurospheres was enumerated. Then, a linear regression model was used to compare the slope of each group.

Cells were resuspended in 200 μL serum-free medium at a density of 2 × 10⁵ cells/ml and placed in the upper chamber (or precoated with 80 μL of Matrigel solution (BD, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) for cell invasion assay) of the 24-well insert with 8 mm pore size. 600 μL of 10% FBS medium was added to the lower chamber. After incubation for 24 h, Cells had migrated or invaded to the lower side of the membrane were fixed and stained with 20% Giemsa. Stained cells were counted under a microscope in five randomly chosen fields and the average number was calculated.

Apoptosis was detected by Annexin V-APC/7-AAD (BD Biosciences). Cells were harvested added allophycocyanin (APC) and 7-aminoactinomycin D (AAD) following the instructions of the manufacturer. Cell samples were analyzed by flow cytometry (FACScan, BD Biosciences), and apoptotic fractions were recorded.

Total proteins were isolated from cells with RIPA buffer on ice and were further analysed by SDS-PAGE and electrophoretically transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes. After non-specific binding was prevented by 5% nonfat milk at room temperature for 2 h, membranes were embraced overnight at 4 °C by primary antibodies as below: FEZF1 (1:200, Santa Cruz Biotechnology),CDC25A(1:1000, Abcam, EUGENE, USA), PI3K, p-PI3K, AKT, p-AKT (1:1000, Cell Signaling Technology, Beverly, MA, USA) and GAPDH (1:1000, Santa Cruz Biotechnology). Then, incubated 2 h at room temperature with HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies. Immunoblots were visualized by ECL chemiluminescence detection system and the relative integrated density values were calculated by FLuor Chem2.0 software.

Potential miR-103a-3p binding sites of linc00152 and FEZF1 3′-UTR were predicted by bioinformatics tool Starbase (http://​starbase.​sysu.​edu.​cn/​) and Target Scan (http://​www.​targetscan.​org/​). In brief, the fragment of linc00152 possessing the assumptive miR-103a-3p binding sites was cloned into a pmirGLO Dual-Luciferase Vector (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) to construct the reporter vector linc00152-wild-type (linc00152-Wt) (GenePharma, Shanghai, China). Analogously, the corresponding mutant of hypothetic miR-103a-3p binding sites was manufactured to form the reporter vector linc00152-mutated-types (linc00152-Mut) (GenePharma, Shanghai, China). The 3′-UTR fragment of FEZF1 gene and its mutant of the theoretical miR-103a-3p binding site were cloned into a pmirGLO Dual-Luciferase Vector to form the reporter vector FEZF1-3′-UTR-wild-type (FEZF1-3′-UTR-Wt) and FEZF1-3′-UTR-mutated-type (FEZF1-3′-UTR-Mut) (GenePharma, Shanghai,China), respectively. The pmirGLO vector(wild type fragments or mutated type fragments) and indicated miRNAs were transfected into HEK 293 T cells using Lipofectamine 3000. Relative luciferase activities were measured 48 h after transfection and firefly luciferase activity was normalized by renilla luciferase activity.

The Chip assay was carried out using the Simple Chip Enzymatic Chromatin IP kit (Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA) following the manufacturer’s instructions. Cells were cross-linked with 1% formaldehyde for 10 min and then dealed with glycine for 5 min at room temperature. Cells were lysed with cold buffer containing PMSF and resuspended with cold PBS. Chromatin was digested by micrococcal nuclease and incubated for 20 min at 37 °C with frequent mixture. Lysates (2%) were employed as an input reference. Other immunoprecipitation samples were incubated overnight with normal rabbit IgG or anti-FEZF1 antibodies (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, CA, USA) at 4 °C with vibration. Protein G agarose beads were used to collect the chromatinimmune complex, and beads were scoured with low salt chip buffer and high salt chip buffer. DNA crosslinks were reversed by 5 mol/l NaCl and proteinase K at 65 °C for 2 h to purify. DNA was amplified by PCR applying the following DNA fragments: putative binding site 1 using the primers 5′-GGCTAAGAAGTGGTGGGAAAG-3′ and 5′-AGGGAGGGAATGCAATGAC-3′, generating a 211 bp product; putative binding site 2 using the primers 5′-GCTTTCTTCTTCCCCTCTCA-3′ and 5′-CCGACCTACACCTCTTACCC-3′, generating a 195 bp product; control using the primers 5′-TCTACCTCCTTCAGGGCTCA-3′ and 5′-TTTGGCCTTATCCTGTGGAC-3′, generating a 171 bp product.

In vivo study, the stable expressing cells were applied. Lentivirus encoding miR-103a-3p and its non-targeting sequence (negative control, NC) were generated using pLenti6.3/V5eDEST Gateway Vector Kit (Life Technologies Corporation, Carlsbad, CA, USA). The miR-103a-3p and short-hairpin RNA targeting human linc00152 were ligated into the pLenti6.3/V5eDEST vector and LV3-CMV-GFP-Puro vector (GenePharma, Shanghai, China), respectively. And then pLenti6.3/V5eDEST-miR-103a-3p and LV3-CMV-GFPPuro-sh-linc00152 vectors were generated. The ViraPower Packaging Mix was used to generate Lentivirus in 293FT cells. After infection, the stable expressing cells of miR-103a-3p (miR-103a-3p(+)), sh-linc00152 (linc00152(−)) were picked. The lentiviruses of miR-103a-3p(+) were transduced in linc00152(−) stably transfected cells to generate linc00152(−) + miR-103a-3p(+) cells.

The nude mice were divided into five groups: control group, linc00152(−)-NC + miR-103a-3p(+)-NC group, linc00152(−) group, miR-103a-3p(+) group and linc00152(−) + miR-103a-3p(+) group.

For subcutaneous implantation, every mouse was subcutaneously injected with 3 × 10⁵ cells in the right flank. Tumor volume was measured every 4 days using the formula: volume (mm³) = length × width2/2. The subcutaneous tumor-bearing mice were executed 40 days after injection. For survival analysis in orthotopic transplantation, 3 × 10⁵ cells were stereotactically transplanted into the right striatum of the mice. The number of survived nude mice was recorded every day and survival analysis was conducted applying KaplaneMeier survival curve.