Open AccessLong non‐coding RNA highly up‐regulated in liver cancer promotes epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition process in oral squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Su Wen,
Tang Jing,
Wang Yufan,
Sun Shuai,
Shen Yuehong,
Yang Hongyu
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of cellular and molecular medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.44
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1582-4934
pISSN - 1582-1838
DOI - 10.1111/jcmm.14160
Subject(s) - long non coding rna , carcinogenesis , cancer research , epithelial–mesenchymal transition , malignancy , cancer , biology , cell growth , liver cancer , rna , pathology , medicine , metastasis , hepatocellular carcinoma , gene , genetics
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is an oral and maxillofacial malignancy that exhibits high incidence worldwide. In diverse human cancers, the long non‐coding RNA (lncRNA) highly up‐regulated in liver cancer (HULC) is aberrantly expressed, but how HULC affects OSCC development and progression has remained mostly unknown. We report that HULC was abnormally up‐regulated in oral cancer tissues and OSCC cell lines, and that suppression of HULC expression in OSCC cells not only inhibited the proliferation, drug tolerance, migration and invasion of the cancer cells, but also increased their apoptosis rate. Notably, in a mouse xenograft model, HULC depletion reduced tumorigenicity and inhibited the epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition process. Collectively, our findings reveal a crucial role of the lncRNA HULC in regulating oral cancer carcinogenesis and tumour progression, and thus suggest that HULC could serve as a novel therapeutic target for OSCC.