2. Academic Validation
  3. LncRNA APTR amplification serves as a potential glioma biomarker and promotes glioma progression via miR-6734-5p/ TCF7/LEF1 axis

LncRNA APTR amplification serves as a potential glioma biomarker and promotes glioma progression via miR-6734-5p/ TCF7/LEF1 axis

  • Noncoding RNA Res. 2025 Feb 22:12:42-55. doi: 10.1016/j.ncrna.2025.02.007.
Heng Chen 1 2 3,  Mengzhen Huang 1 2 3,  Jiayi Li 1 2 3,  Shanshan Zhang 4,  Cuiyun Sun 5,  Wenjun Luo 5,  Lin Yu 1 2 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300070, China.
  • 2 Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, Research Center of Basic Medical Science, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300070, China.
  • 3 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology and Key Laboratory of the Educational Ministry of China, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300070, China.
  • 4 Department of Radiology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
  • 5 Department of Neuropathology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Injuries, Variations and Regeneration of the Nervous System, Key Laboratory of Post-trauma Neuro-repair and Regeneration in Central Nervous System of Education Ministry, Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
PMID: 40103614 DOI: 10.1016/j.ncrna.2025.02.007
Abstract

Background: Alu-mediated p21 transcriptional regulator (APTR) overexpression is detected in different human cancers; however, few reports have investigated APTR gene amplification conditions. Furthermore, whether APTR amplification is related to glioma malignancy and the underlying mechanism remain unknown.

Methods: APTR amplification and expression levels in 153 glioma samples were analyzed using qPCR. Correlations between APTR and patient prognosis were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival and COX regression analyses. Both in vitro and in vivo phenotypic assays were performed to confirm the carcinogenic effects of APTR in glioblastoma (GBM) cells. RNA-sequencing and RNA immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays were performed to confirm APTR as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) and to identify the downstream axis of APTR.

Results: Our results suggest that APTR amplification and overexpression are novel independent diagnostic biomarkers for predicting poor prognosis in patients with gliomas. APTR knockdown significantly repressed the proliferation and invasion of GBM cells, both in vitro and in vivo. APTR was demonstrated to absorb miR-6734-5p and upregulate TCF7 and LEF1 expression. Taken together, these results suggest that APTR promotes the malignant phenotypes of GBM by inducing TCF7 and LEF1 expression.

Conclusion: We identified APTR as a novel prognostic biomarker in patients with gliomas and confirmed that APTR is a ceRNA that promotes glioma progression via the APTR/miR-6734-5p/TCF7/LEF1 axis.

Keywords

APTR; Amplification; Glioma; Prognostic biomarker; ceRNA.

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