Prognostic role of long non-coding RNA LINC00152 in Chinese cancer patients: a meta-analysis

Improved characterization of the relationship between long intergenic non-coding RNA Linc00152 and the occurrence and development of malignancies

Linc00152, located on chromosome 2p11.2, is a long intergenic non-coding RNA molecule with 828 nucleotides that is highly expressed in many types of human tumor tissues, especially in malignant tumors of the digestive system. Linc00152 promotes the occurrence and development of tumors by increasing tumor cell proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and apoptosis. Additionally, linc00152 contributes to the carcinogenesis of several cancers, including gastric cancer, liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, gallbladder cancer, clear cell renal cell carcinoma, and colorectal cancer, by disturbing various signaling pathways (eg PI3K/AKT, mTOR, IL-1, and NOTCH 1 signaling pathways). High linc00152 expression levels are associated with chemoresistance as well as poor prognosis and shorter survival. Continual advances made in the relevant research have indicated that linc00152 may be useful as a new tumor molecular biomarker, applicable for tumor diagnosis, targeted therapy, and prognosis assessment. This review summarizes the progress in the research into the relationship between linc00152 and the occurrence and development of malignancies based on molecular functions, regulatory mechanisms, and clinical applications.

Upregulation of long noncoding RNA LINC00152 promotes proliferation and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Purpose: Esophageal cancer is a major cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The long noncoding RNA LINC00152 has been confirmed to play an oncogenic role in many cancers. However, the expression pattern and function of LINC00152 in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remain unclear.

Materials and methods: We evaluated LINC00152 expression in ESCC by qPCR and in situ hybridization. Proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle, migration and invasion were examined in ESCC cells knocked down for LINC00152 knockdown by siRNA. Furthermore, an mRNA microarray was performed in ESCC cells with LINC00152 knockdown.

Results: LINC00152 was significantly upregulated in human ESCC clinical samples (P<0.001) and cell lines (P=0.008), and LINC00152 overexpression was related to lymphatic metastasis (P=0.03) and advanced pTNM classification (P=0.005). Furthermore, ESCC patients with LINC00152 overexpression had significantly shorter overall survival (P=0.007), and LINC00152 overexpression was an independent risk factor for overall survival of ESCC patients. LINC00152 knockdown inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of ESCC cells in vitro. In addition, mechanistic investigations through mRNA array and immunoblot analyses demonstrated that LINC00152 regulated the expression of several cell cycle-related proteins and SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors) interactions in vesicular transport pathway proteins.

Conclusion: Our research indicated that LINC00152 exhibits oncogenic functions in ESCC and may represent a potential new target for ESCC therapy.

LINC00152 facilitates tumorigenesis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via miR-153-3p/FYN axis

Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) have been found to be associated with the biological behaviors of human cancers. LINC00152 is reported as an oncogene in many kinds of malignancies. However, the functions and mechanisms of LINC00152 involved in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remain elusive. Our results revealed that LINC00152 expression was up-regulated in ESCC, and correlated with advanced TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, and poor prognosis of ESCC patients. Functionally, LINC00152 knockdown suppressed proliferation, decreased colony forming ability, and induced apoptosis in ESCC cells. Mechanically, LINC00152 functioned as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to sponge miR-153-3p, thereby facilitating its downstream target FYN. Moreover, miR-153-3p-mediated tumor-suppressive effects were partly reversed following LINC00152 overexpression. Also, FYN knockdown displayed a similar anti-cancerous role in ESCC cells. Taken together, LINC00152 contributed to ESCC progression by down-regulating miR-153-3p and promoting FYN expression, uncovering a novel LINC00152/miR-153-3p/FYN regulatory pathway in ESCC.