Long noncoding RNA PANDAR inhibits the development of lung cancer by regulating autophagy and apoptosis pathways

Background: LncRNAs has been shown to play important roles in the progression of lung cancer, but it remains poorly understood whether lncRNAs affect the occurrence and development of lung cancer by regulating autophagy and apoptosis levels. Here, we investigated the roles of PANDAR in NSCLC. Materials and Methods: The expression profile and clinical application of PANDAR and its possible target gene BECN1 were tested in 276 cases of lung cancer tissues. Through some actual experiments, we explored functions of PANDAR about proliferation, apoptosis and autophagy of NSCLC cells in vitro. Results: PANDAR was found to downregulate both in lung cancer tissues and cell lines compared with corresponding controls (P < 0.05 for all), which was related to tumor stage (P < 0.05). Moreover, autophagy related gene BECN1 was also downregulated in lung cancer tissues comparison with normal tissues (P < 0.01), and there was a significant positive correlation between PANDAR and BECN1 levels (r = 0.789, P < 0.001). So, the high expression of PANDAR increased BECN1 expression levels and impaired the proliferation of NSCLC cell lines in vitro. Furthermore study showed PANDAR could regulate cell autophagy and apoptosis levels. Conclusion: These results indicated lncRNA PANDAR was a tumor suppressor and can inhibit NSCLC cell proliferation by activating autophagy and apoptosis pathways via upregulation of BECN1 expression.