Differentiation Antagonizing Non-protein Coding RNA Expression Research Articles

Long non‑coding RNA DANCR promotes HMGA2‑mediated invasion in lung adenocarcinoma cells.

Long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to be key regulators in various types of cancer, including lung adenocarcinoma (LAD). The roles of the lncRNA differentiation antagonizing non‑protein coding RNA (DANCR) and high mobility group AT‑hook2 (HMGA2) in LAD remain unclear. In the present study, it was revealed that the lncRNA DANCR was upregulated in LAD tissue and cell lines, compared with para‑tumor tissue and a normal lung cell line. Additionally, elevated DANCR expression was associated with poor prognosis in the patients with LAD. Functionally, the study revealed that knockdown of DANCR inhibited invasion and HMGA2 expression in the LAD cell lines, SPCA1 and A549. Furthermore, HMGA2 was overexpressed in LAD tissue and in SPCA1 and A549 cells, compared with para‑tumor tissue and a normal lung cell line. Inhibition of HMGA2 suppressed the invasive ability of SPCA1 and A549 cells, and DANCR promoted the invasive ability via regulation of HMGA2 in SPCA1 and A549 cells. The findings of the present study revealed that DANCR promoted the invasion of LAD cells by positively regulating HMGA2. Thus, a DANCR/HMGA2 axis may be a novel potential target in the molecular treatment of LAD.

Silencing long non-coding RNA, differentiation antagonizing non-protein coding RNA promotes apoptosis and inhibits tumor growth in colon cancer.

The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) differentiation antagonizing non-protein coding RNA (DANCR) has been reported to be a novel potential biomarker for colon cancer prognosis. However, its functional role in colon cancer remains unknown. In the present study, DANCR expression in colon cancer cell lines was determined by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Cell Counting kit-8 assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, Hoechst 33258 staining and western blotting were utilized to investigate the effect and mechanism of DANCR in the regulation of colon cancer growth. Establishment of a xenograft tumor model followed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) dUTP nick-end labeling assay and immunohistochemical staining were performed to confirm the findings in vitro. DANCR was revealed to be overexpressed in all human colon cancer cell lines. Silencing DANCR by small interfering RNA significantly inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation. Flow cytometry analyses and Hoechst 33258 staining revealed that apoptosis was induced upon DANCR-knockdown. Silencing DANCR was revealed to efficiently impair colon tumor growth by promoting caspase 3 expression and tumor apoptosis. In summary, the results of the present study demonstrated that DANCR is a potential therapeutic target in colon cancer.

LncRNA DANCR functions as a competing endogenous RNA to regulate RAB1A expression by sponging miR-634 in glioma.

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) differentiation antagonizing nonprotein coding RNA (DANCR) plays important regulatory roles in many solid tumors. However, the effect of DANCR in glioma progression and underlying molecular mechanisms were not entirely explored. In the present study, we determined the expression of DANCR in glioma tissues and cell lines using qRT-PCR and further defined the biological functions. Furthermore, we used luciferase reporter assay, Western blot, and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) to explore the underlying mechanism. Our results showed that DANCR was significantly up-regulated in glioma tissues and cell lines (U251, U118, LN229, and U87MG). High DANCR expression was correlated with advanced tumor grade. Inhibition of DANCR suppressed the glioma cells proliferation and induced cells arrested in the G0/G1 phase. In addition, we verified that DANCR could directly interact with miR-634 in glioma cells and this interaction resulted in the inhibition of downstream of RAB1A expression. The present study demonstrated that DANCR/miR-634/RAB1A axis plays crucial roles in the progression of glioma, and DANCR might potentially serve as a therapeutic target for the treatment of glioma patients.

Long non‑coding RNA DANCR regulates the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human bone-derived marrow mesenchymal stem cells via the p38MAPK pathway.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been established to participate in the complex network of various biological processes and play important roles in the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). However, the roles of lncRNAs in the mechanisms of the osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived MSCs (HBMSCs) are poorly understood. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of the lncRNA, differentiation antagonizing non-protein coding RNA (DANCR), on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of HBMSCs. We found that lncRNA DANCR was abnormally decreased in HBMSCs during osteogenic differentiation. DANCR knockdown induced by transfection with siRNA targeting DANCR (si-DANCR) significantly enhanced the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of HBMSCs. By contrast, when DANCR expression was enhanced by transfection with a DANCR overexpression vector (pcDNA-DANCR), the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of the HBMSCs were markedly inhibited. We further found that mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways were involved in the DANCR-mediated proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of HBMSCs. Moreover, DANCR was found to mediate the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of HBMSCs via p38 MAPK inactivation, but not via extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK)1/2 or c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) MAPKs, but. Combination treatment (pcDNA-DANCR and with the p38 specific inhibitor, SB203580) led to synergistic inhibitory effects, and these inhibitory effects were reversed by DANCR knockdown. These findings not only provide a novel interpretation for the mechanisms of the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of HBMSCs, but also suggest that DANCR may be a novel therapeutic target for bone-destructive diseases in the future.