LncRNA loc285194 inhibits tumor growth of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells by downregulating hexokinase 2

LncRNA loc285194 is a well-characterized tumor suppressor in several types of cancer. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to investigate the involvement of lncRNA loc285194 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). The expression of loc285194 and hexokinase 2 (HK-2) mRNA in laryngeal biopsies of patients with LSCC or healthy controls was detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The diagnostic value of loc285194 and HK-2 mRNA for LSCC was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The correlation between expression of loc285194 and HK-2 mRNA was analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The association between loc285194 and clinicopathological data of patients with LSCC was analyzed using the Chi-square test. LncRNA loc285194 and HK-2 expression vectors were transfected into human LSCC cell lines and the effects on HK-2 expression, lncRNA loc285194 expression and cell proliferation was detected by western blot, RT-qPCR and CCK-8 assays, respectively. It was observed that loc285194 was upregulated, while HK-2 mRNA was downregulated in patients with LSCC compared with healthy controls. The results demonstrated that the downregulation of loc285194 may be a sensitive diagnostic marker for LSCC. The expression levels of loc285194 and HK-2 mRNA were inversely correlated in patients with LSCC, but not in healthy controls. loc285194 expression was significantly associated with tumor size, but not distant tumor metastasis. Loc285194 overexpression significantly inhibited HK-2 expression and LSCC cell proliferation. HK-2 overexpression did not significantly affect Loc285194 expression, but promoted LSCC proliferation and attenuated the inhibitory effects of loc285194 overexpression on LSCC cell proliferation. lncRNA loc285194 may inhibit tumor growth of LSCC cells by downregulating HK-2.