Expression and clinical significance of long-non-coding RNA GHET1 in pancreatic cancer

H.-Y. Zhou, H. Zhu, X.-Y. Wu, X.-D. Chen, Z.-G. Qiao, X. Ling, X.-M. Yao, J.-H. Tang

Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Wujiang Hospital of Nantong University, Suzhou, China. yaoxueming@163.com

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• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression level and biological function of long non-coding RNA gastric carcinoma high expressed transcript 1 (lncRNA-GHET1) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (pancreatic cancer for short), to analyze the correlation between the expression of GHET1 and clinicopathological features and to explore the role and clinical significance of GHET1 in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The relative expression of GHET1 in 5 human pancreatic cancer cell lines was detected by quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The specific interference sequence of GHET1 was designed and transiently transfected into pancreatic cancer cells. qRT-PCR assay was used to detect the interference efficiency. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to detect the effect of the interference with GHET1 on the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells. Flow cytometry was used to detect the effect of the interference with GHET1 on the cycle distribution and apoptosis. qRT-PCR was used to detect the relative expression of GHET1 in pancreatic cancer tissues compared with that in cancer-adjacent tissues. The correlation between the expression of GHET1 and the pathological features of pancreatic cancer patients was analyzed.

RESULTS: The expression of GHET1 in human pancreatic cancer cells was relatively high. The results of CCK-8 showed that the proliferation of tumor cells was inhibited after the interference with GHET1 expression. The results of flow cytometry showed that the expression of GHET1 was blocked at G1/G0 phase, and the apoptosis rate was increased. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the expression of GHET1 was upregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues of 49 out of 64 patients compared with that in cancer-adjacent tissues, and the highly expressed GHET1 was positively correlated with the tumor, node and metastasis (TNM) staging of pancreatic cancer.

CONCLUSIONS: Highly expressed GHET1 promotes the proliferation of pancreatic cancer, inhibits apoptosis and is related to TNM staging. The expression of GHET1 can be used as a potential molecular marker for the prognosis and therapeutic target of pancreatic cancer.

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