lncRNA ZFPM2‐AS1 promotes proliferation via miR‐18b‐5p/VMA21 axis in lung adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Lung cancer has been proved to be one of the most common kinds of cancers around the globe. Meanwhile, as the predominant type of lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has received increasing attention in cancer research. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to be associated with oncogenesis and progression of various cancers. However, many lncRNAs have not been thoroughly detected in LUAD. In this study, through bioinformatics analysis we found that zinc finger protein multitype 2 antisense RNA 1 (ZFPM2‐AS1) was associated with poor prognosis of LUAD patients. Also, ZFPM2‐AS1 was detected to be overexpressed in LUAD tissues and cells. Furthermore, ZFPM2‐AS1 could promote the proliferation of LUAD cells. Next, miR‐18b‐5p was found to bind with and negatively regulated by ZFPM2‐AS1. VMA21, target gene of miR‐18b‐5p, could bind with and be negatively regulated by miR‐18b‐5p. More importantly, both ZFPM2‐AS1 and VMA21 were found to be attached to the RNA‐induced silencing complex constructed from miR‐18b‐5p and Ago2. Also, ZFPM2‐AS1 could regulate the expression of VMA21. Therefore, ZFPM2‐AS1 were confirmed to regulate VMA21 by competitively binding with miR‐18b‐5p. Finally, rescue assays confirmed that ZFPM2‐AS1 could regulate LUAD cell proliferation via miR‐18b‐5p/VMA21 axis.

ZFPM2-AS1 facilitates cell growth in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via up-regulating TRAF4

“…For example, ZFPM2-AS1 enhances cell proliferation, inhibits cell apoptosis and alleviates the p53 pathway in gastric cancer [17]. ZFPM2-AS1 is overexpressed in lung adenocarcinoma, predicts a poor prognosis and boosts cell proliferation [18]. In the present study, we found that ZFPM2-AS1 was up-regulated in ESCC cells.…”

“…These results uncovered the oncogenic property of ZFPM2-AS1 in ESCC. Diverse mechanisms by which ZFPM2-AS1 modulates cancer progression have been well revealed, including stabilizing MIF in gastric cancer [17] and sponging miR-18b-5p to regulate VMA21 expression in lung adenocarcinoma [18]. Notably, the potential molecular mechanisms by which ZFPM2-AS1 might modulate the tumorigenic processes in ESCC were explored.…”

“…Contrarily, GAS5 [15] and FER1L4 [16] are down-regulated in ESCC and suppress the cancer progression. LncRNA ZFPM2 antisense RNA 1 (ZFPM2-AS1) was reported to play oncogenic role in gastric cancer [17] and lung adenocarcinoma [18]. However, it expression pattern and biological function have not been elucidated in ESCC.…”

YY1-induced lncRNA ZFPM2-AS1 facilitates cell proliferation and invasion in small cell lung cancer via upregulating of TRAF4

“…LncRNA PVT1 overexpression serves as a poor prognostic maker in SCLC, and facilitates malignant migration and invasion of cells [27]. In our research, lncRNA ZFPM2-AS1, located in 8q23.1, was an oncogenic gene in gastric cancer, renal cell cancer and lung adenocarcinoma [20,22,23]. Nonetheless, the role of ZFPM2-AS1 in SCLC was rarely discussed.…”

“…Moreover, ZFPM2-AS1 induced renal cell cancer tumorigenesis through targeting miR-137 [22]. Also, ZFPM2-AS1 regulated miR-18b-5p/VMA21 axis to promote lung adenocarcinoma progression [23]. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the role and regulatory mechanism of ZFPM2-AS1 in SCLC.…”