HIF-1α overexpression partially recovers HOXA-AS2-regulated nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression. (A) RT-qPCR analysis demonstrated the expression of HIF-1α in SUNE1 and SUNE2 cells transfected with pcDNA3.1 and pcDNA3.1/HIF-1α, or (B) transfected with shNC, shHOXA-AS2 and shHOXA-AS2 + HIF-1α. (C) MTT assay results demonstrated the cell viability of cells transfected with shNC, shHOXA-AS2 and shHOXA-AS2 + HIF-1α at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h. (D) Wound healing assay and quantification of migratory abilities of cells transfected with shNC, shHOXA-AS2 and shHOXA-AS2 + HIF-1α at 0 and 24 h. (E) Transwell invasion assay and quantification of invasive abilities of cells transfected with shNC, shHOXA-AS2 and shHOXA-AS2 + HIF-1α. Data are presented as the mean ± SD. *P<0.05. HOXA-AS2, HOXA cluster antisense RNA 2; sh, short hairpin RNA; NC, negative control; RT-qPCR, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR; OD, optical density; HIF-1α, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α.