Long noncoding RNA ZEB1-AS1 predicts an unfavorable prognosis of non-small lung cancer and regulates epithelial to mesenchymal transition through reducing ZEB1 expression.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are critical gene regulators with important roles in a wide variety of biological processes, including tumorigenesis. ZEB1-AS1 was significantly increased in NSCLC tissues and cell lines, and its expression levels were highly associated with aggressive tumor progression and poor prognosis. Down-regulation of ZEB1-AS1 suppresses NSCLC cell proliferation and invasion in vitro, as well as inhibits xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, we found that ZEB1-AS1 down-regulation effectively suppressed EMT process through reducing ZEB1 expression, and the ectopic expression of ZEB1 restored the migratory and invasive abilities of NSCLC cells inhibited by ZEB1-AS1 down-regulation. In conclusion, these findings revealed that ZEB1-AS1 plays regulatory roles in NSCLC and it might become a novel molecular indicator of prognosis and therapeutic target in NSCLC.