NHC Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Hunan Key Laboratory of Translational Radiation Oncology, Hunan Cancer Hospital and the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Cancer Invasion of the Chinese Ministry of Education, Cancer Research Institute, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Mol Oncol. 2020 Sep;14(9):2251-2270. doi: 10.1002/1878-0261.12703. Epub 2020 Jun 13.
Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) have emerged as crucial regulators for a myriad of biological processes, and perturbations in their cellular expression levels have often been associated with cancer pathogenesis. In this study, we identified AATBC (apoptosis-associated transcript in bladder cancer, LOC284837) as a novel lncRNA. AATBC was found to be highly expressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and increased AATBC expression was associated with poor survival in patients with NPC. Furthermore, AATBC promoted migration and invasion of NPC cells in vitro, as well as metastasis in vivo. AATBC upregulated the expression of the desmosome-associated protein pinin (PNN) through miR-1237-3p sponging. In turn, PNN interacted with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) activator ZEB1 and upregulated ZEB1 expression to promote EMT in NPC cells. Collectively, our results indicate that AATBC promotes NPC progression through the miR-1237-3p-PNN-ZEB1 axis. Our findings indicate AATBC as a potential prognostic biomarker or therapeutic target in NPC.
长链非编码 RNA（lncRNA）已成为多种生物学过程的关键调节因子，其细胞表达水平的扰动常常与癌症发病机制有关。在这项研究中，我们鉴定出 AATBC（膀胱癌中的凋亡相关转录物，LOC284837）是一种新型的 lncRNA。AATBC 在鼻咽癌（NPC）中表达水平较高，并且 AATBC 表达增加与 NPC 患者的生存不良相关。此外，AATBC 促进 NPC 细胞的迁移和侵袭，以及体内转移。AATBC 通过 miR-1237-3p 海绵作用上调桥粒相关蛋白 pinin（PNN）的表达。反过来，PNN 与上皮-间充质转化（EMT）激活剂 ZEB1 相互作用，并上调 ZEB1 表达，从而促进 NPC 细胞的 EMT。总的来说，我们的结果表明 AATBC 通过 miR-1237-3p-PNN-ZEB1 轴促进 NPC 的进展。我们的研究结果表明 AATBC 是 NPC 的潜在预后生物标志物或治疗靶点。
