Long non-coding RNA LINC02163 is up-regulated and promotes cell migration and invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of long non-coding RNA LINC02163 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and HCC cell lines, and its effect on the migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Methods The differential expression level of LINC02163 in 5 HCC cell lines (HuH-7, HCCLM3, MHCC-97H, SNU-182 and SMMC-7721), normal liver cell line (L02) and 60 HCC tissues and paired adjacent tissues was determined by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and the relationship between its expression level and the clinicopathological parameters of HCC patients was analyzed. LipofectamineTM 2000 was used to transfect LINC02163 small interfering RNA (siRNA) into HCC HuH-7 and HCCLM3 cells in order to knockdown the expression. Then the changes of migration and invasion ability of HCC cells after the knock-down of LINC02163 were examined by Transwell assay. Results The expression level of LINC02163 in HCC tissues was significantly higher than that in paired adjacent tissues (P < 0.001), and the level was significantly correlated with TNM stage and microvascular invasion (MVI) in the patients (all P < 0.01). Compared with normal liver cell line (L02), LINC02163 was highly expressed in 5 HCC cell lines (P < 0.001), among which HuH-7 cells had the highest expression level, followed by HCCLM3 cells. LINC02163 knock-down significantly reduced the migration and invasion abilities in HuH-7 and HCCLM3 cells (P < 0.01). Conclusion LINC02163 is up-regulated in HCC tissues and cell lines and promotes the migration and invasion of HCC cells, which may be closely associated with the occurrence and development of HCC.

Keywords

• long non-coding rna
• linc02163
• hepatocellular carcinoma
• migration
• invasion