-Stabilizing Long Noncoding RNA Promotes Hormone-Refractory Breast Cancer Progression.

Acquired endocrine therapy resistance is a significant clinical problem for breast cancer patients. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) as a critical modulator for cancer progression. Based on RNA-sequencing data of breast invasive carcinomas in The Cancer Genome Atlas database, we identified thymopoietin antisense transcript 1 () as a functional lncRNA that significantly correlates with proliferative biomarkers. positivity analyzed by hybridization significantly correlates with poor prognosis of breast cancer patients. expression was upregulated in endocrine therapy-resistant MCF-7 cells compared with levels in parental cells and was estrogen inducible. Gain and loss of experiments showed that promotes the proliferation and viability of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer cells and Global expression analysis using a microarray demonstrated that is closely associated with the estrogen signaling pathway. could positively regulate estrogen receptor 1 () mRNA expression by stabilizing mRNA through interaction with mRNA. Enhanced expression of mRNA by could play a critical role in the proliferation of ER-positive breast cancer. Our findings provide a new insight into the understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying hormone-dependent breast cancer progression and endocrine resistance.