lncRNA-UCA1 enhances cell proliferation through functioning as a ceRNA of Sox4 in esophageal cancer.
Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal cancers, which leads to the sixth ranking of cancer-related death. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play pivotal roles in many biological processes. lncRNA human urothelial carcinoma associated 1 (UCA1) is significantly upregulated and functions as an important oncogene in many types of human cancers. However, the role of UCA1 in EC and its underlying mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, we demonstrated that UCA1 was significantly upregulated in EC tissues and associated with poor prognosis. Overexpression of UCA1 promoted the proliferation of EC cells, while silence of UCA1 inhibited EC cells growth. Furthermore, we found that Sox4 was a direct target gene of UCA1. UCA1 regulated Sox4 expression through functioning as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA). UCA1 directly interacted with miR-204 and decreased the binding of miR-204 to Sox4 3'UTR, which suppressed the degradation of Sox4 mRNA by miR-204. This study provides the first evidence that UCA1 promotes cell proliferation through Sox4 in EC, suggesting that UCA1 and Sox4 may be potential therapeutic targets for EC.
Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian, P.R. China.
Changjie
C
Jiao
Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian, P.R. China.
Zhiming
Z
Song
Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian, P.R. China.
Jianming
J
Chen
Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian, P.R. China.
Jing
J
Zhong
Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian, P.R. China.
Weibin
W
Cai
Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian, P.R. China.
Suke
S
Tian
Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian, P.R. China.
Songlin
S
Chen
Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian, P.R. China.
Yunfeng
Y
Yi
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, P.R. China.
Yun
Y
Xiao
D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000235:genetics*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D055751:SOXC Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C549404:MIRN204 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; C083431:SOX4 protein, human; D055751:SOXC Transcription Factors; C515159:UCA1 RNA, human