Abstract
Up-regulation of lncRNA POU3F3 has been observed in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas, while its expression pattern and functionality in other human disease is unknown. Our study showed that plasma levels of lncRNA POU3F3 and TGF-β1 (transforming growth factor-β) were both increased in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients than in healthy controls. Plasma levels of lncRNA POU3F3 were not affected by the diameter of primary tumors but increased in patients with tumor metastasis. Plasma levels of lncRNA POU3F3 and TGF-β1 were positively correlated only in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients but not in healthy controls. Follow-up study showed that high plasma levels of lncRNA POU3F3 were significantly correlated with poor overall survival. LncRNA POU3F3 overexpression and exogenous TGF-β1 treatment led to promoted, while TGF-β1 inhibitor led to inhibited migration and invasion of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. TGF-β1 inhibitor partially rescued the inhibited cancer cell migration and invasion caused by lncRNA POU3F3 overexpression. LncRNA POU3F3 overexpression led to down-regulated TGF-β1 expression, while exogenous TGF-β1 and TGF-β1 inhibitor treatment did not significantly change the expression level of lncRNA POU3F3. Therefore, lncRNA POU3F3 may promote cancer cell migration and invasion in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by up-regulating TGF-β1.
Highlights
As type of malignancy develops from the tissues of nasopharynx, nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a rare cancer in most regions of the world [1]
Plasma levels of lncRNA POU3F3 and TGF-β1 were increased in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients
We showed that lncRNA POU3F3 was up-regulated in plasma of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients
Summary
As type of malignancy develops from the tissues of nasopharynx, nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a rare cancer in most regions of the world [1]. Ethnicity significantly affects the occurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma [2]. Some populations, such as the populations in southern China, are at high risk for this disease [3]. In China, nasopharyngeal carcinoma affects more than 40,000 new cases and causes more than 20,000 deaths every year [4]. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is considered as one of the major public health problems in China [4]. With efforts made on cancer treatment, long-term survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma at early stages has been significantly improved [5,6]. Survival of patients with metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma is still poor [5,6]
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