lncRNA functions as a ceRNA to upregulate by sponging in HCC cellular senescence.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer related deaths and lacks effective therapies. Cellular senescence acts as a barrier against cancer progression and plays an important role in tumor suppression. Senescence associated long noncoding RNAs (SAL-RNAs) are thought to be critical regulators of cancer development. Here, the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) myocardial infarction-associated transcript ) was first identified as an HCC specific SALncRNA. Knockdown of significantly promoted cellular senescence and inhibited HCC progression. Mechanistic study revealed that SAL- acted as a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) that upregulated the expression of by sponging . Moreover, downregulation activated the tumor suppressor pathway (p53/ and /pRb) and stimulated senescent cancer cells to secrete senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), which contributed to inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, and resulted in the suppression of HCC tumorigenesis. Together, our study provided mechanistic insights into a critical role of as a miRNA sponge in HCC cellular senescence, which might offer a potential therapeutic strategy for HCC treatment.