Objective To explore the mechanism of long non-coding RNA NR2F1-AS1 (LncRNA NR2F1-AS1) in regulating proliferation and apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells by targeting microRNA-493-5p (miR-493-5p) expression.

Methods The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression levels of NR2F1-AS1 and miR-493-5p in different lines of ovarian cancer cells; the dual luciferase reporter gene was used to detect the interaction between NR2F1-AS1 and miR-493-5p; the MTT proliferation assay was used to determine the change in the proliferation ability of ovarian cancer cells after interference with NR2F1-AS1 expression or miR-493-5p overexpression; the apoptosis rate of ovarian cancer cells was detected by flow cytometry; the Western blot was used to detect the protein expression levels of CyclinD1, p21, p27, Bcl-2, Bax and cleaved-caspase 3.

Results Compared with normal ovarian epithelial cells, the expression level of NR2F1-AS1 in ovarian cancer cells increased significantly, while the expression level of miR-493-5p decreased significantly (P < 0.05). The dual luciferase assay confirmed that NR2F1-AS1 could specifically bind to miR-493-5p, and the expression and activity of miR-493-5p were negatively regulated by NR2F1-AS1. Interference with NR2F1-AS1 expression or overexpression of miR-493-5p could inhibit the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells, promote apoptosis, significantly up-regulate the expression of p21, Bax, p27 and cleaved-caspase 3, and down-regulate protein expression levels of CyclinD1 and Bcl-2. Inhibiting the expression of miR-493-5p was able to reverse the effect of interference with the expression of NR2F1-AS1 on the proliferation and apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells.

Conclusion Interference with the expression of NR2F1-AS1 can inhibit the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells and induce apoptosis by up-regulating the expression of miR-493-5p.