Department of Ultrasound, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region 530021, China.
Biomed Res Int. 2021 Feb 1;2021:8850656. doi: 10.1155/2021/8850656. eCollection 2021.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer that has a high level of morbidity and mortality. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is a novel regulatory factor of tumour proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis. Our previous studies indicated that lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 is a functional oncogene in HCC; thus, this study is aimed at further evaluating the clinical and biological function of FOXP4-AS1 in HCC. . First, we detected the expression of FOXP4-AS1 in HCC tissues and paracarcinoma normal tissues by qRT-PCR. Second, the prognostic effects of FOXP4-AS1 in patients with HCC were analysed in a training group and a verification group. Subsequently, to investigate the biological effects of FOXP4-AS1 on HCC cells, downexpression tests were further conducted.
The expression of FOXP4-AS1 was higher in HCC tissues than adjacent nontumourous tissues, whereas the low expression of FOXP4-AS1 was correlated with optimistic treatment outcomes, which suggested that FOXP4-AS1 may be an independent prognostic biomarker for HCC. Moreover, the downregulation of FOXP4-AS1 significantly reduced the cell proliferation and clonal abilities and inhibited the invasion, migration, and angiogenesis of hepatoma cells ( < 0.05).
These results revealed the clinical significance and biological function of FOXP4-AS1 in HCC development, which may provide a new direction for finding therapeutic targets and potential prognostic biomarkers of HCC.
肝细胞癌（HCC）是最常见的原发性肝癌，发病率和死亡率都很高。长链非编码 RNA（lncRNA）是肿瘤增殖、凋亡和转移的新型调节因子。我们之前的研究表明，lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 是 HCC 中的一种功能性癌基因；因此，本研究旨在进一步评估 FOXP4-AS1 在 HCC 中的临床和生物学功能。首先，我们通过 qRT-PCR 检测 HCC 组织和癌旁正常组织中 FOXP4-AS1 的表达。其次，在训练组和验证组中分析 FOXP4-AS1 对 HCC 患者的预后影响。随后，为了研究 FOXP4-AS1 对 HCC 细胞的生物学影响，我们进一步进行了下调实验。
FOXP4-AS1 在 HCC 组织中的表达高于相邻非肿瘤组织，而 FOXP4-AS1 的低表达与乐观的治疗结果相关，这表明 FOXP4-AS1 可能是 HCC 的独立预后生物标志物。此外，下调 FOXP4-AS1 显著降低了肝癌细胞的增殖和克隆能力，并抑制了肝癌细胞的侵袭、迁移和血管生成（<0.05）。
这些结果揭示了 FOXP4-AS1 在 HCC 发展中的临床意义和生物学功能，为寻找 HCC 的治疗靶点和潜在预后生物标志物提供了新的方向。
