The study aims to investigate how DANCR can alter the growth and metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells by regulating miR-216a-5p. The expression of DANCR and miR-216a-5p in OSCC patients and cells were measured. SCC15 and CAL-27 cells were selected to divide into Control, sh-NC, DANCR shRNA, DANCR, miR-216a-5p mimic, and DANCR + miR-216a-5p mimic groups. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was performed for the verification of the targeting relationship between miR-216a-5p and DANCR/Bcl-2/KLF12. We also quantified the abilities of OSCC cells regarding proliferation, invasion, migration and apoptosis, and the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins were measured. Finally, the tumor-bearing nude mice were established to verify the effect of DANCR in vivo. Up-regulated DANCR expression and down-regulated miR-216a-5p expression were observed in both OSCC tissues and cells, and they were proven strongly correlated to the histological grade, clinical staging and lymph node metastasis of OSCC patients. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay showed a target relationship between DANCR and miR-216a-5p, as well as between miR-216a-5p and Bcl-2/KLF12. Both DANCR shRNA and miR-216a-5p mimic decreased proliferative, migration and invasive abilities of OSCC cells with increased cell apoptosis. However, DANCR group showed completely opposite trends. Moreover, miR-216a-5p mimic could reverse the role of DANCR in promoting tumor growth. In-vivo experiment confirmed the inhibitory role of DANCR shRNA in tumor growth and metastasis. We concluded that DANCR may promote the growth and metastasis of OSCC cells and suppress OSCC cell apoptosis by sponging miR-216a-5p.

这项研究旨在研究DANCR如何通过调节miR-216a-5p改变口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）细胞的生长和转移。测定了OSCC患者和细胞中DANCR和miR-216a-5p的表达。选择SCC15和CAL-27细胞分为对照组，sh-NC，DANCR shRNA，DANCR，miR-216a-5p模拟物和DANCR + miR-216a-5p模拟物组。进行双荧光素酶报告基因测定以验证miR-216a-5p和DANCR / Bcl-2 / KLF12之间的靶向关系。我们还量化了OSCC细胞在增殖，侵袭，迁移和凋亡方面的能力，并测量了凋亡相关蛋白的表达水平。最后，建立了荷瘤裸鼠以验证DANCR在体内的作用。在OSCC组织和细胞中均观察到DANCR表达上调和miR-216a-5p表达下调，并且它们与OSCC患者的组织学分级，临床分期和淋巴结转移密切相关。双荧光素酶报告基因检测表明，DANCR与miR-216a-5p之间以及miR-216a-5p与Bcl-2 / KLF12之间存在靶标关系。DANCR shRNA和miR-216a-5p都可降低OSCC细胞的增殖，迁移和侵袭能力，并增加细胞凋亡。但是，DANCR组显示出完全相反的趋势。而且，miR-216a-5p模拟物可以逆转DANCR在促进肿瘤生长中的作用。体内实验证实了DANCR shRNA在肿瘤生长和转移中的抑制作用。