Alteration of lncRNA RHPN1-AS1 predicts clinical prognosis and regulates the progression of bladder cancer via modulating miR-485-5p.

BACKGROUND

Exploring effect biomarkers that monitor tumor progression and predict the prognosis could benefit the clinical management of bladder cancer and improve the postoperative life of patients. This study aimed to estimate the function of long non-coding (lnc)RNA RHPN1-AS1 (RHPN1-AS1) in bladder cancer and the potential molecular mechanism.

METHODS

The expression of RHPN1-AS1 was evaluated in bladder cancer tissues from 115 patients and cells by polymerase chain reaction. The clinical significance of RHPN1-AS1 was assessed and its effect was also estimated in cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. The underlying molecular mechanism was explored by the dual-luciferase reporter assay.

RESULTS

The expression of RHPN1-AS1 was 2.91-fold elevated in bladder cancer, which showed a close correlation with advanced tumor node metastasis stage (= 0.013) and the presence of lymph node metastasis (= 0.018). RHPN1-AS1 also served as a poor prognostic indicator (hazard ratio = 2.563) for bladder cancer. The knockdown of RHPN1-AS1 significantly suppressed the proliferation and metastasis ability of bladder cancer cells. Moreover, miR-485-5p was found to mediate the function of RHPN1-AS1 in bladder cancer, which was considered the underlying regulatory mechanism.

CONCLUSIONS

RHPN1-AS1 serves as a prognostic biomarker and tumor promoter in bladder cancer via modulating miR-485-5p, which might be a reliable target of bladder cancer therapy.