LncRNA-ENST00000501520 promotes the proliferation of malignant-transformed BEAS-2B cells induced with coal tar pitch mediated by target genes.

As a human carcinogen, coal tar pitch (CTP) can significantly increase the risk of lung cancer. However, the mechanism underlying CTP-induced lung carcinogenesis has not been well understood. This study aims to explore the role of the LncRNA-ENST00000501520 in the proliferation of malignant-transformed human bronchial epithelial cells (BAES-2B) induced by CTP extract for the first time. BEAS-2B cells were stimulated with 2.4 μg/mL CTP extract, and then passaged for three times, which were named passage 1 and then passaged until passage 30 (named as CTP group). The ENST000001520 of cells in CTP group was interfered using siRNA. The results showed that ENST000001520 located in cell nucleus (>80%) had no or weak ability of protein encoding. After interference of ENST000001520, the migration and proliferation of cells in CTP group were inhibited, and the cell cycle was arrested in the G0/G1 phase; however, the apoptosis of cells in CTP group was promoted. The target genes (SKB1, CLTB, TAP2, PIPK2, and SOCS3) of ENST000001520 were screened out, and the mRNA and protein expression of SBK1 and SOCS3 was significantly decreased after ENST000001520 interference. SBK1 and SOCS3 may play a promoting role in occurrence and development of cancers. The study suggests that LncRNA-ENST00000501520 could promote the proliferation in malignant-transformed BEAS-2B cells induced with CTP extract which may be mediated by target genes. This study may provide a new target for prevention and treatment of lung cancer.