LncRNA LIFR-AS1 overexpression suppressed the progression of serous ovarian carcinoma

Background: Serous ovarian carcinoma (SOC) is a common malignant tumor in female reproductive system. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) LIFR-AS1 is a tumor suppressor gene in colorectal Cancer, but its effect and underlying mechanism in SOC are still unclear. Therefore, this study focuses on unveiling the regulatory mechanism of LIFR-AS1 in SOC.

Methods: The relationship between LIFR-AS1 expression and prognosis of SOC patients was analyzed by TCGA database and Starbase, and then, the LIFR-AS1 expression in SOC tissues and cells was detected by quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) and in situ hybridization (ISH). Besides, the relationship between LIFR-AS1 and clinical characteristics was analyzed. Also, the effects of LIFR-AS1 on the biological behaviors of SOC cells were measured by Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, and wound-healing and Transwell assays, respectively. Western blot and qRT-PCR were employed to determine the protein expressions of genes related to proliferation (PCNA), Apoptosis (cleaved Caspase-3), epithelial-mesenchymal transition (E-cadherin, N-Cadherin, and Snail).

Results: LIFR-AS1 was lowly expressed in SOC, which was correlated with the poor prognosis of SOC patients. Low expression of LIFR-AS1 in SOC was associated with the tumor size, clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis. LIFR-AS1 overexpression promoted the expressions of cleaved Caspase-3 and E-cadherin while suppressing the malignant behaviors (proliferation, migration, and invasion) of SOC cells, the expressions of PCNA, N-Cadherin, and Snail. Besides, silencing LIFR-AS1 exerted the effects opposite to overexpressed LIFR-AS1.

Conclusion: LIFR-AS1 overexpression inhibits biological behaviors of SOC cells, which may be a new therapeutic method.