Upregulation of LncDQ is Associated with Poor Prognosis and Promotes Tumor Progression via Epigenetic Regulation of the EMT Pathway in HCC

Abstract

Background/Aims: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key regulators of cancer initiation and progression. In this study, we investigated the clinical value and functional role of LncRNA DQ786243 (LncDQ) in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: To investigate the expression level of LncDQ in HCC, we performed quantitative real-time PCR using total RNA extracted from HCC tumor tissues and their matched non-neoplastic counterparts, as well as from the serum of HCC patients and healthy volunteers. The correlation of LncDQ expression with clinicopathologic features and prognosis was analyzed. The functional role of LncDQ in cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were evaluated by MTT cell viability, wound healing, and transwell assays in vitro and in vivo. RNA immunoprecipitation and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were performed to analyze the potential mechanism of LncDQ in HCC cells. Results: LncDQ was upregulated in both HCC tissue samples and serum and was correlated with low survival rate and adverse clinical pathological characteristics. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that LncDQ expression was an independent prognostic factor for HCC. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.804 with a sensitivity of 0.72 and a specificity of 0.8. Knockdown of LncDQ induced inhibition of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, LncDQ regulated the epithelial–mesenchymal transition pathway by interacting with EZH2, to epigenetically repress the expression of E-cadherin in HCC cells. Conclusions: Taken together, the results of our study indicate that LncDQ plays a critical role in HCC progression, and may serve as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for HCC.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Long noncoding RNA MLK7-AS1 promotes ovarian cancer cells progression by modulating miR-375/YAP1 axis

“…LncRNA MLK7-AS1 has been identified as one of the cancer-specific LncRNAs, its expression was significantly associated with the overall survival of patients with gastric cancer [ 5 ]. A recent study demonstrated that high MLK7-AS1 expression contributed to the proliferation and inhibited apoptosis of gastric cancer.…”

“…The EMT process plays a crucial role during the progression of many types of cancers including human ovarian cancer [ 17 , 23 , 31 ]. Recent studies have demonstrated that LncRNAs are involved in regulation the EMT pathway [ 5 , 32 , 33 ]. In this study, our data also showed that knockdown of MLK7-AS1 upregulated epithelial maker expression levels but downregulated the expression levels of mesenchymal marker genes both in in vitro and vivo , while the suppression effects were partly reversed by miR-375-inhibition, indicating MLK7-AS1 might interact with miR-375 to promote cell proliferation via the EMT pathway in ovarian cancer cells.…”

Upregulation of lncRNA DQ679794 contributes to preventing the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma both in vitro and in vivo

“…Overexpression of lncRNA Ftx promoted the proliferation, invasion and migration of HCC cells, while knockdown of lncRNA Ftx had the opposite effect [22,23]. In our previous studies, we also found that lncRNA DQ786243 was elevated in both HCC tissue samples and serum, which was associated with a low survival rate and poor clinicopathological characteristics [16]. In addition, multivariate analysis showed that lncRNA DQ786243 expression was an independent prognostic factor for HCC.…”

“…However, most of the lncRNA profiles in HCC remain largely unknown. In previous studies, we found that lncRNA DQ786243 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of HCC and promotes the development of HCC [16]. In the present study, we focused on lncRNA DQ679794 to identify the key lncRNA associated with HCC and to study its biological functions in HCC progression.…”

lncRNA DGCR5 acts as a tumor suppressor in papillary thyroid carcinoma via sequestering miR‑2861

“…For instance, lncRNA mucin (MUC)5B-antisense non-coding RNA 1 enhances lung adenocarcinoma metastasis by regulating MUC5B expression (8). Overexpression of lncRNA DQ786243 predicts poor prognosis and contributes to the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (9). Cytoskeleton regulator RNA enhances glioma development via sponging microRNA (miR)-16 (10).…”