LncRNA ABHD11-AS1 promotes tumor progression in papillary thyroid carcinoma by regulating EPS15L1/EGFR signaling pathway

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveslncRNA ABHD11 antisense RNA 1 (ABHD11-AS1) acts as an oncogene involved in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) occurrence and progression. ABHD11-AS1 exerts biologic functions by some miRNAs and proteins to regulate multiple targets. Identification of novel mechanism of ABHD11‐AS1 could be helpful in therapeutic targeting for PTC treatment.MethodsDifferentially expressed lncRNAs were selected from TCGA database. qRT‐PCR analysis was applied to examine the expression of ABHD11‐AS1 in PTC cell lines and tissues. The relationship of ABHD11-AS1 expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed by Kaplan–Meier analysis.Two PTC cell lines (TPC-1 and KTC-1) were transfected with pcDNA 3.1, pcDNA3.1-ABHD11-AS1, si-NC and si-ABHD11-AS1, respectively, to verify the ABHD11-AS1 oncogene-regulating capacity to promote tumor progression. The cell metastasis and proliferation had been evaluated both in vitro and in vivo.ResultsHigh expression of ABHD11‐AS1 was found in PTC tissues (P < 0.01), which was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). ABHD11-AS1 overexpression noticeably promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion capabilities, which were obviously decreased upon ABHD11-AS1 knockdown. ABHD11-AS1 positively regulated EGFR/EPS15L1 pathway, as EGFR, EPS15L1, STAT3, and p-STAT3 were activated.ConclusionABHD11‐AS1 promotes tumor progression in PTC by regulating EPS15L1/EGFR pathway.