LINC00460 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma development through sponging miR-485-5p to up-regulate PAK1

Abstract LncRNAs can function as significant regulators of tumor development. However, their roles in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain poorly investigated. LINC00460 has been identified in several cancers, which can act as an oncogene. In this study, we observed that LINC00460 was significantly up-regulated in HCC cells, which implied that LINC00460 was involved in HCC development. Then, LINC00460 was silenced in Hep3B and Huh-7 cells and we found that knockdown of LINC00460 greatly inhibited HCC cell proliferation. In addition, HCC cell apoptosis was induced and meanwhile, cell cycle progression was blocked by down-regulation of LINC00460 in vitro. Furthermore, we proved that Hep3B and Huh-7 cell migration and invasion capacity was repressed by decrease of LINC00460. Recently, a growing number of studies have indicated the correlation between lncRNAs and microRNAs. Currently, we displayed that miR-485-5p was greatly decreased in HCC cells and LINC00460 could sponge miR-485-5p to regulate HCC progression. The binding association between LINC00460 and miR-485-5p was confirmed using dual-luciferase reporter assay, RNA pulled down and RIP assay in our research. Subsequently, PAK1 was predicted as a downstream target of miR-485-5p and we demonstrated that miR-485-5p suppressed PAK1 levels in vitro. Finally, in vivo experiments were conducted to validate that knockdown of LINC00460 repressed HCC development through modulating miR-485-5p to increase PAK1. Taken these together, we indicated that LINC00460 promoted HCC progression through sponging miR-485-5p and up-regulating PAK1.