Long noncoding RNA nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 promotes proliferation and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Objective To detect the expression level of nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and to determine the roles, and functional mechanisms of NEAT1 in the proliferation and invasion of HCC cells using small interfering RNA (siRNA) against NEAT1. Methods Total RNA was extracted from tissues and cell lines using Trizol-Chloroform reagent (n=12). The expression of each RNA was detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and normalized to that of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). HCC cell lines HepG2 and SMMC-7721 were transfected using siRNA NEAT1 (100 nmol/L) and Lipofectamine 2000. The effect of NEAT1-knockdown was detected by RT-qPCR. To focus on the function and potential molecular mechanism of NEAT1 in HCC, we profiled its gene expression pattern by gene sequencing and detected proliferation and invasion in NEAT1-knockdown HCC cell lines (n=2). Results It was found that NEAT1 was up-regulated in HCC tissues and cell lines (P 2, P<0.05). NEAT1-knockdown inhibited cell proliferation (P<0.01), migration and invasion (P<0.01) in HCC cell lines. Conclusion Long noncoding RNA NEAT1 as an oncogene played an important role in HCC progression. Key words: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Long noncoding RNA; Nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1; Proliferation; Invasion