Upregulation of Long Non-Coding RNA PlncRNA-1 Promotes Metastasis and Induces Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Liyang Dong 1 , Junwei Ni, Wenhao Hu, Chang Yu, Haiyan Li
Affiliation
- 1 Department of Invasive Technology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, PR China.
Abstract
Background/aims: PlncRNA-1 has been demonstrated to promote malignancy in various cancers. The present study aims to investigate the expression pattern, prognosis value and the function of PlncRNA-1 in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods: The expression of PlncRNA-1 in 84 pairs of HCC and their matched normal tissues was examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The correlations of PlncRNA-1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis were also analyzed. The biological role of PlncRNA-1 in cell proliferation, migration and invasion was examined in vitro and in vivo.
Results: The results showed that the level of PlncRNA-1 expression was significantly increased in HCC tissues and significantly correlated with tumor size, vascular invasion and advanced TNM stage. Moreover, patients with high levels of PlncRNA-1 expression had relatively poor prognostic outcomes, serving as an independent prognostic factor for HCC. In vitro functional assays indicated that knockdown of PlncRNA-1 expression significantly reduced cell proliferation, migration and invasion by inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) signaling. Animal model experiments confirmed the ability of PlncRNA-1 to promote tumor growth in vivo.
Conclusions: Taken together, our findings suggest that PlncRNA-1 may serve as an oncogene in HCC progression and represent a valuable prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target for HCC.