Upregulated long non-coding RNA AFAP1-AS1 expression is associated with progression and poor prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

• DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.4057
• Publication Date: 2015-09-15T04:50:22Z
• Authors: Hao Bo; Zhaojian Gong; Wenling Zhang; Xiayu Li; Yong Zeng; Qianjin Liao; Pan Chen; Lei Shi; Yu Lian; Yizhou Jing; Ke Tang; Zheng Li; Yanhong Zhou; Ming Zhou; Bo Xiang; Xiaoling Li; Jianbo Yang; Wei Xiong; Guiyuan Li; Zhaoyang Zeng
• Keywords: 0303 health sciences; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; Carcinoma; Mice, Nude; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms; Prognosis; 3. Good health; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Cell Line, Tumor; Gene Knockdown Techniques; Disease Progression; Animals; Heterografts; Humans; RNA, Long Noncoding; Neoplasm Metastasis; Cell Proliferation

Altered expression of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) associated with human carcinogenesis. We performed a cDNA microarray analysis of lncRNA expression in 12 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and 4 non-tumor nasopharyngeal epitheliums. One lncRNA, actin filament associated protein 1 antisense RNA1 (AFAP1-AS1), was identified and selected for further study. AFAP1-AS1 expression was upregulated in NPC and associated with NPC metastasis and poor prognosis. In vitro experiments demonstrated that AFAP1-AS1 knockdown significantly inhibited the NPC cell migration and invasive capability. AFAP1-AS1 knockdown also increased AFAP1 protein expression. Proteomic and bioinformatics analyses suggested that AFAP1-AS1 affected the expression of several small GTPase family members and molecules in the actin cytokeratin signaling pathway. AFAP1-AS1 promoted cancer cell metastasis via regulation of actin filament integrity. AFAP1-AS1 might be a potential novel marker that can predict cancer patient prognosis and as a potential therapeutic target for NPC.