LncRNA CRNDE promotes the development of Wilms' tumor by regulating microRNA-424.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the expression characteristics of lncRNA CRNDE in Wilms' tumor and to further investigate whether it could promote the development of Wilms' tumor via regulating microRNA-424.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed to examine the expression level of CRNDE in tumor tissues and para-cancerous tissues of patients with Wilms' tumor. Meanwhile, the expression of CRNDE in Wilms' tumor cell lines was analyzed as well. CRNDE overexpression and knockdown models were constructed using lentivirus transfection in HFWT and 17-94 cell lines, respectively. Subsequently, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), cell colony formation, and transwell assays were performed to explore the influence of CRNDE on the biological functions of Wilms' tumor cells. Furthermore, luciferase reporter gene assay and cell reversal experiment were applied to explore the interplay between CRNDE and microRNA-424.

RESULTS

RT-qPCR results revealed that the expression level of lncRNA CRNDE in tumor tissues of patients with Wilms' tumor was remarkably higher than that of adjacent normal tissues. Also, the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Compared with patients with low expression of CRNDE, the risk of lymph node metastasis was significantly higher in patients with high CRNDE expression (p<0.05). Similarly, compared with control group, the proliferation and metastasis abilities of cells in CRNDE knockdown group were remarkably down-regulated (p<0.05). However, opposite results were observed in CRNDE overexpression group. In addition, our results demonstrated that microRNA-424 expression was negatively correlated with CRNDE expression in Wilms' tumor tissues. Luciferase reporter gene assay indicated that CRNDE could be targeted by microRNA-424 through specific a binding site, further regulating the malignant progression of Wilms' tumor.

CONCLUSIONS

CRNDE was highly expressed in Wilms' tumor tissue and cell lines. The expression of CRNDE was correlated with the incidence rate of lymph node metastasis in patients with Wilms' tumor. In addition, CRNDE might accelerate the progression of Wilms' tumor via modulating microRNA-424.