LncRNA‐TCONS_00026907 is involved in the progression and prognosis of cervical cancer through inhibiting miR‐143‐5p

Our previous long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) microarray revealed that lncRNA‐TCONS_00026907 is aberrantly expressed between cervical cancer tissues and adjacent tissues. This study aims to explore the potential role of TCONS_00026907 in the development of cervical cancer. The expression levels of TCONS_00026907 in cervical cancer tissues and adjacent tissues from 83 patients of cervical cancer were detected by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction and the survival rate was analyzed. In vitro, HeLa and SiHa cells were transfected with small hairpin RNA (shRNA)‐TCONS_00026907, then cell proliferation, cycle distribution, apoptosis, migration and invasion were measured. To confirm TCONS_00026907 regulates expression of ELK1 through inhibiting miR‐143‐5p, overexpression of miR‐143‐5p and silencing of ELK1 were, respectively, performed in HeLa and SiHa cells. Results showed that TCONS_00026907 level was significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues compared to noncancerous tissues and the survival rate was lower in the high expression group. Silencing of TCONS_00026907, overexpression of miR‐143‐5p and silencing of ELK1 inhibited cervical cell cycle, proliferation, migration, and invasion, but promoted apoptosis, respectively. Furthermore, silencing of TCONS_00026907 suppressed the growth of cervical tumors and altered the expression of ELK1, p‐ELK1, C‐fos, Cyclin D1 and Bcl‐2 in vivo. Our study identifies TCONS_00026907 as a potent proto‐oncogene and indicates that TCONS_00026907/miR143‐5p/ELK1 regulatory pathway plays an important role in cervical cancer.