Long noncoding RNA ZFPM2-AS1 promotes the tumorigenesis of renal cell cancer via targeting miR-137.

Abstract

Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have attracted more attention for their roles in tumor progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of lncRNA ZFPM2 antisense RNA 1 (ZFPM2-AS1) in the progression of renal cell cancer (RCC), and to explore the possible underlying mechanism. Expression levels of ZFPM2-AS1 in both RCC cells and 50 paired tissue samples were detected by Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR). Moreover, the relationship between lncRNA ZFPM2-AS1 expression level and clinic-pathological characteristics as well as patients' disease-free survival rate was explored, respectively. Furthermore, cell proliferation assay, wound healing assay and transwell assay were performed to investigate the role of lncRNA ZFPM2-AS1 in vitro. In addition, Western blot assay, Luciferase reporter gene assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay were used to explore the possible underlying mechanism. The expression level of ZFPM2-AS1 in tumor tissues was significantly higher than that of corresponding normal tissues. ZFPM2-AS1 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis, tumor stage and survival time of RCC patients. Moreover, the overexpression of ZFPM2-AS1 significantly promoted the growth, invasion and migration of tumor cells, whereas remarkably inhibited cell apoptosis in vitro. Further experiments revealed that miR-137 was a direct target of ZFPM2-AS1. In addition, miR-137 expression in tumor tissues was negatively correlated with ZFPM2-AS1 expression. Our findings indicated that ZFPM2-AS1 could promote metastasis and proliferation, whereas inhibiting the apoptosis of RCC via targeting miR-137. This study might provide a new vision for interpreting the mechanism of RCC development.