LncRNA HOXA11-AS Promotes Proliferation and Invasion of Gastric Cancer by Scaffolding the Chromatin Modification Factors PRC2, LSD1, and DNMT1
Authors: Zhaoxia Wang
Zhihong Zhang
Dandan He
Min Xie
Jiakai Hou
Yunfei Wang
Wei De
Lin Xu
Jun Wang
Ming Sun
Fengqi Nie
Journal: Cancer research (2016)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: Long noncoding RNAs; lncRNA alterations; gastric cancer; HOXA11-AS; survival
Affiliations: Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, P.R. China., Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, P.R. China., Department of Pathology, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P.R. China., Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular and Translational Cancer Research, Cancer Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, P.R. China.   ., Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, P.R. China.   ., Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University People' Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China.   .

Abstract:  Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) have been implicated in human cancer but their mechanisms of action are mainly undocumented. In this study, we investigated lncRNA alterations that contribute to gastric cancer through an analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas RNA sequencing data and other publicly available microarray data. Here we report the gastric cancer-associated lncRNA HOXA11-AS as a key regulator of gastric cancer development and progression. Patients with high HOXA11-AS expression had a shorter survival and poorer prognosis. In vitro and in vivo assays of HOXA11-AS alterations revealed a complex integrated phenotype affecting cell growth, migration, invasion, and apoptosis. Strikingly, high-throughput sequencing analysis after HOXA11-AS silencing highlighted alterations in cell proliferation and cell-cell adhesion pathways. Mechanistically, EZH2 along with the histone demethylase LSD1 or DNMT1 were recruited by HOXA11-AS, which functioned as a scaffold. HOXA11-AS also functioned as a molecular sponge for miR-1297, antagonizing its ability to repress EZH2 protein translation. In addition, we found that E2F1 was involved in HOXA11-AS activation in gastric cancer cells. Taken together, our findings support a model in which the EZH2/HOXA11-AS/LSD1 complex and HOXA11-AS/miR-1297/EZH2 cross-talk serve as critical effectors in gastric cancer tumorigenesis and progression, suggesting new therapeutic directions in gastric cancer. Cancer Res; 76(21); 6299-310. ©2016 AACR. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 In Figure 3D there are two cases where microscopy data have been duplicated and presented as something else. In addition much of the data presented in this article is impossible to judge because of the low quality (low resolution). Examples are shown from Figure 6G (western blot) and Figure 7C (microscopy data). ![file] ,