ILF3-AS1 promotes cell proliferation and inhibits cell apoptosis of breast cancer by binding with miR-4429 to upregulate RAB14.

As one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women, breast cancer accounts for a 30% increase of incidence worldwide since 1970s. Recently, increasing studies have revealed that the long non-coding RNA ILF3-AS1 is involved in the progression of various cancers. Nevertheless, the role of ILF3-AS1 in breast cancer remains largely unknown. In the present study, we found that ILF3-AS1 was highly expressed in breast cancer tissues and cells. ILF3-AS1 silencing inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted cell apoptosis. ILF3-AS1 bound with miR-4429 in breast cancer cells. Moreover, RAB14 was a downstream target of miR-4429, and miR-4429 expression was negatively correlated with RAB14 or ILF3-AS1 expression in breast cancer tissues. The result of rescue experiments demonstrated that overexpression of RAB14 can reverse the inhibitory effect of ILF3-AS1 knockdown on breast cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Overall, ILF3-AS1 promotes the malignant phenotypes of breast cancer cells by interacting with miR-4429 to regulate RAB14, which might offer a new insight into the underlying mechanism of breast cancer.