LncRNA promotes the proliferation of non-small cell lung cancer cells by targeting the axis.

BACKGROUND

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in various biological processes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aimed to investigate the key lncRNA axis in the development of NSCLC and its potential molecular mechanism.

METHODS

LncRNA is considered to be a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) and its potential targeting microRNAs (miRNAs) were predicted through LncBase predicted v.2. The expression of and in NSCLC tissues and cells was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and cell colony-forming test were used to detect the effect of cell proliferation. RT-PCR was used to detect the expression changes of and . Western Blot was used to detect the changes of the cell cycle protein. Dual luciferase activity was used to determine the potential mechanism of lncRNA .

RESULTS

LncRNA was highly expressed and was lowly expressed in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. LncBase predicted v.2.0 reported a high-scoring binding between and . The luciferase reporter assay defined the regulatory relationship between and . In NSCLC cells, knockdown of significantly increased the expression of , decreased the proliferation and colony formation number of cancer cells, and reduced the expression of and . Meanwhile, overexpression of significantly inhibited the cell proliferation and colony formation number, and reduced the expression of and . Furthermore, according to the results of the dual-luciferase activity assay, targeted the 3' untranslated regions (3' UTRs) of , validating that is a direct target of . Overexpression of restored the role of in NSCLC cells.

CONCLUSIONS

LncRNA can regulate the proliferation of NSCLC cells via / signaling. Therefore, may act as a prospective biomarker and therapeutic target for patients with NSCLC.