TUBA1C: a new potential target of LncRNA EGFR-AS1 promotes gastric cancer progression

Abstract

Background: The lack of obvious symptoms of early GC as well as the absence of sensitive and specific biomarkers results in poor clinical outcomes. High TUBA1C expression has been shown to be closely related to a poor prognosis in in various cancers, however, the role of TUBA1C in GC have not yet been elucidated. This study, for the first time, revealed that TUBA1C drives the growth of GC cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. Methods: The expression of lncRNA EGFR-AS1 was detected in human GC cell lines by qRT–PCR. MS experiments following RNA pulldown assays found that EGFR-AS1 directly binds to TUBA1C, the CCK8, EdU, transwell, wound-healing, cell cycle assays and animal experiments were conducted to investigate the function of TUBA1C in GC. Combined with bioinformatics analyses, reveal interaction between E2F1, Ki-67, PCNA and TUBA1C by western blot. Rescue experiments furtherly demonstrated the relationship of EGFR-AS1and TUBA1C. Results: TUBA1C was proved to be a direct target of EGFR-AS1, TUBA1C promotes gastric cancer proliferation, migration and invasion by accelerating the progression of the cell cycle from the G1 phase to the S phase and activating the expression of tumor suppressor genes: E2F1, Ki-67, and PCNA. Conclusions: TUBA1C is a new potential target of LncRNA EGFR-AS1 promotes gastric cancer progression and could be a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for GC.