Long non‑coding RNA DLX6‑AS1 is associated with malignant progression and promotes proliferation and invasion in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Despite being one of the most prevalent and fatal types of cancer worldwide, the biological details of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remain unknown. Recent studies have demonstrated the crucial roles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in diverse biological processes including cancer initiation, progression and metastasis. The aim of the present study was to assess the expression profile of distal-less homeobox 6 antisense RNA 1 (DLX6-AS1) in ESCC tissues and its contributions to ESCC cell proliferation, apoptosis and invasion. The expression of DLX6-AS1 in a series of ESCC samples and paired adjacent noncancerous tissues was evaluated by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, wound healing and Transwell invasion assays were performed to evaluate the roles of DLX6-AS1 in the ESCC cell lines EC109 and KYSE30 transfected with DLX6-AS1 small interfering RNA (siRNA). Compared with the paired adjacent noncancerous tissues, DLX6-AS1 expression was upregulated in the ESCC tissues and significantly associated with differentiation status, Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage, distant metastasis, and lymph node metastasis. Knockdown of DLX6-AS1 significantly suppressed cell proliferation, invasion and migration abilities, and enhanced the apoptotic rate in the two ESCC cell lines. Furthermore, western blot assays revealed that silencing DLX6-AS1 partly influenced the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process in ESCC cells. These results imply that the oncogenic function of DLX6-AS1 may be a novel candidate target for treating human ESCC.

ceRNA Network Development and Tumour-infiltrating Immune Cell Analysis in Metastatic Breast Cancer of Bone

“…Partial reversal of mir-505-3p's carcinogenic effects can be achieved by overpressing Runx2. Wang et al additionally showed that dlx6-as1 triggers its downstream effects on breast cancer cells by downregulating Fus [23]. These ndings indicate that dlx6-as1 promotes breast cancer progression and is consistent with our results.…”

“…Recently, an increasing number of studies show that aberrant lncrnas expression leads to the development of many kinds of malignant tumours, including breast cancer [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. As a kind of lncrnas, dlx6-as1 is believed to be carcinogenic by regulating the progression of renal cell carcinoma, liver cell carcinoma, glioma, pancreatic cancer and lung adenocarcinoma [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Normal brain tissue has a high expression of DLX6-AS1, which is involved in the development regulation [24][25][26].…”

“…Normal brain tissue has a high expression of DLX6-AS1, which is involved in the development regulation [24][25][26]. In recent years, it has been found that dlx6-as1 is abnormally expressed in a variety of tumour tissues and is closely related to a poor clinical outcome [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. However, the molecular mechanisms of dlx6-as1 and how it contributes to the pathogenesis of breast cancer are still unclear.…”

“…Zhao et al demonstrated signi cant upregulation of dlx6-as1 in breast cancer tissues and cell lines [27]. Furthermore, high dlx6-as1 expression is linked to poor outcome regarding tumour size, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and survival of breast cancer patients [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. SiRNA knockout of dlx6-as1 showed a reduction in proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, migration, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of breast cancer cells [25][26][27].…”

Emerging Role of Non-Coding RNAs in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…The capability to regulate cell proliferation and apoptosis is crucial in cancer therapy. Various publications have shown that ncRNAs, such as miRNAs and lncRNAs, mediate ESCC cell proliferation and cell apoptosis or function mutually to regulate cell migration and invasion [59,64,82].…”