Long non-coding RNA ZEB2-AS1 promotes the proliferation, metastasis and epithelial mesenchymal transition in triple-negative breast cancer by epigenetically activating ZEB2.

In this study, we found that LncRNA-ZEB2-AS1 was dramatically up-regulated in our breast cancer specimens and cells (MDA231), especially in metastatic tumor specimens and highly invasive cells, and high lncRNA-ZEB2-AS1 expression is associated with clinicopathologic features and short survival of breast cancer patients. LncRNA-ZEB2-AS1 promotes the proliferation and metastasis of MDA231 cells in SCID mice. Thus, it is regarded as an oncogene in triple-negative breast cancer. It is mainly endo-nuclear and situated near ZEB2, positively regulating ZEB2 expression and activating the epithelial mesenchymal transition via the PI3K/Akt/GSK3β/Zeb2 signaling pathway. Meanwhile, EGF-induced F-actin polymerization in MDA231 cells can be suppressed by reducing lncRNA-ZEB2-AS1 expression. The migration and invasion of triple-negative breast cancer can be altered through cytoskeleton rearrangement. In summary, we demonstrated that lncRNA-ZEB2-AS1 is an important factor affecting the development of triple-negative breast cancer and thus a potential oncogene target.
PMID: 30825262 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: J Cell Mol Med - February 28, 2019 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Zhang G, Li H, Sun R, Li P, Yang Z, Liu Y, Wang Z, Yang Y, Yin C Tags: J Cell Mol Med Source Type: research