A long intergenic non-coding RNA LINC01426 promotes cancer progression via AZGP1 and predicts poor prognosis in patients with lung adenocarcinoma

Abstract Various long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are closely related with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), playing oncogenic or anti-oncogenic roles in tumorigenesis and progression. Herein we report a novel lncRNA—long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 1426 (LINC01426)—that has not yet been characterized in LUAD. We noted that LINC01426 expression was markedly upregulated in LUAD tissues, and functional assays verified that LINC01426 knockdown markedly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro. Xenografts derived from A549 cells knocked down of LINC01426 had evidently lower tumor weights and smaller tumor volumes. Our study also found that LINC01426 bound to has-miR-30b-3p as a competitive endogenous RNA in LUAD. Moreover, LINC01426 affected LUAD wound healing by interacting and combining with AZGP1, and LINC01426 expression was significantly associated with TNM staging and prognosis in patients with LUAD. To summarize, our study elucidates the oncogenic roles of LINC01426 in LUAD tumorigenesis and progression. We believe that LINC01426 can serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target in patients with LUAD.