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Upregulation of the long noncoding RNA TUG1 promotes proliferation and migration of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the prevalent and deadly cancers worldwide, especially in Eastern Asia. The prognosis of ESCC remains poor; thus, it is still necessary to further dissect the underlying mechanisms and explore therapeutic targets of ESCC. Recent studies show that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have critical roles in diverse biological processes, including tumorigenesis. Some lncRNAs, such as HOTAIR and POU3F3, were reported to play important roles in ESCC. Here, we characterized the expression profile of taurine-upregulated gene 1 (TUG1), a lncRNA recruiting and binding to polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), in ESCC. In a cohort of 62 patients, TUG1 was significantly overexpressed in ESCC tissues compared with paired adjacent normal tissues, and high expression level of TUG1 was associated with family history and upper segment of esophageal cancer (p < 0.05). Further, in vitro silencing TUG1 via siRNA inhibited the proliferation and migration of ESCC cells and blocked the progression of cell cycle. Therefore, our study indicates that TUG1 promotes proliferation and migration of ESCC cells and is a potential oncogene of ESCC.

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Conflicts of interest

None

Funding sources

This study is funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (81372321 to L. Xu; 81201830 and 81472200 to R. Yin), Natural Science Foundation for High Education of Jiangsu Province (13KJB320010 to R. Yin), Foundation of Jiangsu Cancer Hospital (ZQ201103 to J. Wang), and Jiangsu Provincial Special Program of Medical Science (BL2012030 to L. Xu).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular and Translational Cancer Research, Cancer Institute of Jiangsu Province, Baiziting 42, Nanjing, 210009, People’s Republic of China

    Youtao Xu, Mantang Qiu, Ming Li, Feng Jiang, Rong Yin & Lin Xu

  2. The First Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210000, China

    Youtao Xu

  3. Department of Scientific Research, Affiliated Cancer Hospital, Cancer Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210009, China

    Jie Wang

  4. The Fourth Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210000, China

    Mantang Qiu

  5. Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Nanjing Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 168 Dongshan Street Gushan Road, Nanjing, 211100, China

    Lei Xu

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  1. Youtao Xu
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  2. Jie Wang
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  4. Lei Xu
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Correspondence to Rong Yin or Lin Xu.

Additional information

Youtao Xu, Jie Wang, and Mantang Qiu contributed equally to this work.

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Figure S1

Apotosis assay of ECSS cells. TE-13 and KYSE-410 cells transfected with si-NC (siRNA negative control) or si-TUG1 (siRNA specific to TUG1). Thirty-six hours after transfection, cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. (GIF 117 kb)

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Xu, Y., Wang, J., Qiu, M. et al. Upregulation of the long noncoding RNA TUG1 promotes proliferation and migration of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Tumor Biol. 36, 1643–1651 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-014-2763-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-014-2763-6

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