title: Long non-coding RNA HNF1A-AS is upregulated and promotes cell proliferation and metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common head and neck cancer with an incidence of 10-30 cases per 100,000 in southern China. Although primary treatment includes radiation therapy, prognosis is still unsatisfactory.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this study, we examined the role of HNF1A-AS in NPC progression in vitro and in vivo.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relative levels of long non-coding RNA (LncRNA), HNF1A-AS, were evaluated in tumor tissues from 20 patients with NPC as well as from cultured NPC cell lines. Lentivirus-mediated HNF1A-AS knockdown was conducted in NPC cell lines, CNE-2 and SUNE-1. Cell migration and invasion abilities were estimated in vitro by colony-formation, wound-healing, and transwell assays. Cell cycle analysis was used to further examine the role of HNF1A-AS in cell proliferation. The tumor size of 24 male mice with or without HNF1A-AS knockdown was monitored once a week. The underlying mechanism of HNF1A-AS-mediated cell proliferation was studied by western blot analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lentivirus-mediated HNF1A-AS knockdown suppressed cell proliferation and migration abilities. In mice injected with CNE-2 and SUNE-1, depletion of HNF1A-AS caused inhibition of tumor growth, whereas cell cycle analysis showed that HNF1A-AS-knockdown resulted in cell accumulation in the G0/G1 phase. Moreover, HNF1A-AS was found to be associated with epithelial to mesenchymal transition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, our results suggest that LncRNA, HNF1A-AS potentially regulates NPC tumorigenesis. This could help in development of new strategies for NPC diagnosis and treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.|Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Shun
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Zhang
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002277:Carcinoma; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000235:genetics; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D051538:Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D047368:Tumor Burden; D014410:Tumor Stem Cell Assay; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: C496487:HNF1A protein, human; D051538:Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-alpha; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering
keywords: HNF1A-AS; Long non-coding RNA; RNAi; metastasis; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; proliferation