Long non-coding RNA steroid receptor activator promotes the progression of endometrial cancer via Wnt/ β-catenin signaling pathway.

Steroid receptor activator (), a long non-coding RNA, serves as a critical regulator of gynecologic cancer. The objective of this study was to determine biological function and clinical significance of expression in endometrial cancer. We investigated whether was involved in the development of endometrial cancer via binding to eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (EIF4E-BP1) as a transcription factor to enhance Wnt/ β-catenin signaling pathway. Expression levels of were upregulated in endometrial cancer tissues compared to those in adjacent control tissues. We also found high expression of in EC cells. The relationship between and EIF4E-BP1 was corroborated by transfection of a luciferase reporter plasmid. In addition, knockdown inhibited the expression of EIF4E-BP1 known to play a critical role in the control of protein synthesis, cell growth, and cell survival, thus promoting tumourigenesis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) important for cell motility and metastasis. Consistently, immunostaining and western blotting analysis showed that expression levels of β-catenin and 4EBP1 in the nucleus were significantly decreased by knockdown but increased by over-expression. These results suggest that is involved in proliferation, migration, and invasion of endometrial cancer cells by increasing the expression of EIF4E-BP1 and activity of Wnt/ β-catenin signaling. These findings indicate that might be a novel biomarker for predicting recurrence and prognosis. It might also serve as a promising therapeutic target in endometrial cancer.