lncRNA CASC9 positively regulates CHK1 to promote breast cancer cell proliferation and survival through sponging the miR-195/497 cluster

Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in the pathogenesis and development of diverse types of human disorders. Cancer susceptibility candidate 9 (CASC9), a gene encoding a lncRNA, has frequently been reported to be dysregulated and has been implicated in multiple types of human malignancies. However, the biological role of lncRNA CASC9 in breast cancer (BC) remains largely unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the role of lncRNA CASC9 in BC and to elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms involved. In the present study, lncRNA CASC9 was found to be significantly upregulated in both BC tissues and cell lines. Furthermore, functional analyses revealed that lncRNA CASC9 accelerated BC cell proliferation, promoted cell cycle progression and suppressed cell apoptosis. Moreover, mechanical experiments demonstrated that lncRNA CASC9 positively regulated checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1) by competitively binding to the miR-195/497 cluster in BC cells. Additionally, the knockdown of lncRNA CASC9 was observed to suppress breast tumor growth in vivo. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that lncRNA CASC9 plays an oncogenic role in BC through sponging the miR-195/497 cluster, and that lncRNA CASC9 may be used as a novel therapeutic target and as a potential diagnostic marker for BC.