Department of Medical Oncology, The Affiliated Huai'an No. 1 Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Huai'an, Jiangsu, China.
Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2017 Oct;21(17):3842-3849.
The clinical significance and biological functions of long non-coding RNA AFAP1-AS1 in gastric cancer (GC) remain larger elucidated. The aim of the study is to investigate the role of lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 involved in GC progression.
Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) assay was used to evaluate the expression of lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 in GC tissues, when compared with adjacent noncancerous tissues, respectively. Associations between lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 and the clinicopathological factors in GC patients were analyzed by X2-test. The prognostic significance was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression analysis. CCK8, flow cytometry analysis and transwell invasion assays were performed to assess cell proliferation and invasion abilities of GC.
In this study, we verified that lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 expression was dramatically increased in GC tissues and cells, compared with noncancerous gastric tissues and control cells. The higher lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 expression was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.001), TNM stage (p = 0.006) and worse overall survival (OS) time in GC patients. Multivariate Cox analysis suggested that lymph node metastasis (Hazard ratio, HR = 2.966, p = 0.001), TNM stage (HR = 2.855, p = 0.001), and lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 expression levels (HR = 3.315, p = 0.001) were independent prognostic factors of OS in GC patients. Knockdown of lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 significantly inhibited the cell proliferation and cell cycle progression. Moreover, reduced lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 also inhibited the cell invasion ability via regulating cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenomenon in GC.
These results demonstrated that lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 may be a potential therapeutic target for GC.
长链非编码 RNA AFAP1-AS1 在胃癌（GC）中的临床意义和生物学功能仍需进一步阐明。本研究旨在探讨参与 GC 进展的 lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 的作用。
采用定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（QRT-PCR）检测 GC 组织中 lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 的表达，与相邻非癌组织进行比较。采用 X2 检验分析 lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 与 GC 患者临床病理因素的关系。采用 Kaplan-Meier 曲线和 Cox 回归分析评估预后意义。采用 CCK8、流式细胞术分析和 Transwell 侵袭实验评估 GC 细胞的增殖和侵袭能力。
本研究证实，lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 在 GC 组织和细胞中的表达明显升高，与非癌性胃组织和对照细胞相比。lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 表达越高，与 GC 患者的淋巴结转移（p = 0.001）、TNM 分期（p = 0.006）和总生存（OS）时间越差呈正相关。多因素 Cox 分析表明，淋巴结转移（危险比，HR = 2.966，p = 0.001）、TNM 分期（HR = 2.855，p = 0.001）和 lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 表达水平（HR = 3.315，p = 0.001）是 GC 患者 OS 的独立预后因素。lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 敲低显著抑制细胞增殖和细胞周期进展。此外，降低 lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 还通过调节 GC 细胞上皮-间充质转化（EMT）现象抑制细胞侵袭能力。
这些结果表明，lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 可能是 GC 的潜在治疗靶点。
