Long noncoding RNA Z38 promotes cell proliferation and metastasis and inhibits cell apoptosis in human gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-associated mortality and has a high tendency to metastasize, making it a priority to develop novel diagnostic and treatment methods at the early stages. The present study investigated the role of a newly-discovered long non-coding RNA, Z38, in gastric cancer cell proliferation, metastasis and apoptosis. It was observed that Z38 was upregulated in tissues from patients with gastric cancer as well as in cultured gastric cancer cells. Knockdown of Z38 decreased the cell proliferative rate, as evidenced by colony formation assays and cell proliferation assays. In addition, Transwell assays and wound-healing assays demonstrated that depletion of Z38 significantly inhibited cell migration and invasion in AGS and MKN74 cells. Furthermore, a cell apoptosis assay and measurement of relative activities of related caspases revealed that depletion of Z38 increased cell apoptosis by promoting the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9, but not that of caspase-8. Finally, western blot analysis further demonstrated the role of Z38 in the apoptosis of AGS and MKN74 cells. These results suggested that Z38 promotes cell proliferation and metastasis, and inhibits cell apoptosis in gastric cancer. Z38 may represent a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of gastric cancer in clinic.