m6A methyltransferase METTL3-mediated lncRNA FOXD2-AS1 promotes the tumorigenesis of cervical cancer

Recent studies have indicated that long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and N-6-methyladenosine (m(6)A) methylation modification play critical roles in human cancers; however, their regulation on cervical cancer is largely unclear. Here, our study tries to investigate the underlying mechanisms by which lncRNA FOXD2 adjacent opposite strand RNA 1 (FOXD2-AS1) modulates cervical cancer tumorigenesis. Results illuminated that FOXD2-AS1 expression was significantly upregulated in cervical cancer cells and tissue, which was closely correlated to the unfavorable prognosis. Functionally, gain and loss-of-function assays showed that FOXD2-AS1 promoted the migration and proliferation of cervical cancer cells. Besides, FOXD2-AS1 silencing repressed the tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, m(6)A methyltransferase methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) enhanced the stability of FOXD2-AS1 and maintained its expression. Moreover, FOXD2-AS1 recruited lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) to the promoter region of p21 to silence its transcription abundance. In conclusion, these findings support that METTL3/FOXD2-AS1 accelerates cervical cancer progression via a m(6)A-dependent modality, which may serve as a potential therapeutic target for cervical cancer.