TGF-β/SMAD4-Regulated LncRNA-LINP1 Inhibits Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths worldwide. TGF-β-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key cell-intrinsic identity for tumor cell migration, invasion, and stemness acquisition in cancer metastasis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have not been fully investigated for their involvement in regulating TGF-β-induced EMT and metastasis in lung cancer. Here, we demonstrated that the transcription of lncRNA in nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway 1 (LINP1) was inhibited by TGF-β1 in a SMAD4-dependent manner. LINP1 suppressed EMT of lung cancer cells, thereby controlling cancer cell migration, invasion, and stemless. Moreover, LINP1 inhibited TGF-β-induced EMT and cell invasion in lung cancer cells. Our study reveals the role of LINP1 in the regulation of TGF-β-induced EMT in human lung cancer.