Competitive Sequestration of miR-1183 by lncRNA DDX11-AS1 Drives Gliomagenesis through E2F7 Activation

Glioma, as the most lethal primary brain malignancy with poor prognosis, requires further elucidation on the functional role of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) DDX11 antisense RNA 1 (DDX11-AS1) in its pathogenesis, despite its established oncogenic functions in other cancers. Therefore, this study sought to characterize the oncogenic role and molecular mechanism of DDX11-AS1 in glioma.

DDX11-AS1 expression levels were analyzed in clinical surgical glioma specimens and publicly available datasets. The functional roles of DDX11-AS1 on glioma cell proliferation and migration were investigated using in vitro knockdown and overexpression assays. In vivo tumor growth was assessed using orthotopic glioma-bearing mouse models. To elucidate the regulatory axis involving DDX11-AS1, miR-1183, and E2F transcription factor 7 (E2F7), we performed competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) analysis and conducted functional rescue experiments via miR-1183 inhibition.

DDX11-AS1 expression was markedly upregulated in clinical glioma specimens. Functionally, DDX11-AS1 knockdown significantly suppressed glioma cell proliferation and migration in vitro, while its overexpression exacerbated these malignant phenotypes. Orthotopic glioma-bearing mouse models confirmed that DDX11-AS1 drives in vivo glioma tumor growth. Mechanistically, DDX11-AS1 functions as a ceRNA by competitively interacting with miR-1183. Critically, inhibition of miR-1183 rescued the suppressive effects of DDX11-AS1 knockdown on glioma tumorigenic phenotypes and restored E2F7 expression levels.

This study demonstrates that lncRNA DDX11-AS1 promotes glioma progression by regulating the miR-1183/E2F7 axis, indicating a potential therapeutic target for glioma.