NOVA1 acts as an oncogene in melanoma via regulating FOXO3a expression.

Increasing studies have suggested that dysregulation of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) contributes to cancer progression. Neuro-oncological ventral antigen 1 (NOVA1) is a novel RBP and plays an important role in tumour development. However, the expression and role of NOVA1 in melanoma remain unknown. In this study, we indicated that NOVA1 expression was up-regulated in melanoma samples and cell lines. Moreover, we demonstrated that knockdown of NOVA1 suppressed melanoma cell proliferation, migration and invasion in both A375 and A875 cell lines. In addition, we showed that suppressed expression of NOVA1 enhanced forkhead box O3a (FOXO3a) expression while inhibited AKT expression in melanoma cell. Furthermore, we demonstrated that inhibited expression of FoxO3A rescued NOVA1-mediated cell proliferation, migration and invasion in melanoma cell line A375. These results suggested that NOVA1 acted as an oncogene in the development of melanoma partly through regulating FoxO3A expression.