Long noncoding RNA LINC00460 conduces to tumor growth and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma through miR-342-3p-dependent AGR2 up-regulation

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignant tumor in the world. It ranks third among cancer-induced deaths worldwide and has the characteristics of high metastasis and high recurrence rate. Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) LINC00460 is significantly up-regulated in multiple types of cancers and is closely related to the progression of tumors. However, effects of LINC00460 and corresponding regulatory path in HCC are still poorly investigated. In our study, we found that expression of LINC00460 was up-regulated in HCC tissues and cell lines compared with the control. Then we revealed that knockdown of LINC00460 suppressed cell proliferation and cell mobility and induced cell apoptosis in HCC cells. Further study demonstrated that knockdown of LINC00460 suppressed the progression of HCC by elevating the expression of microRNA (miRNA, miR)-342-3p. Besides that, metastasis marker, Anterior gradient homolog 2 (AGR2) was found to be a target of miR-342-3p and overexpression of AGR2 promoted the progression of HCC. Finally, the in vivo experiments further verified the anti-tumor effects of LINC00460 / miR-342-3p / AGR2 axis in HCC. The LINC00460 / miR-342-3p / AGR2 axis exerts anti-tumor effect in HCC in vitro and in vivo, consolidating and expanding the research about targeted gene therapy for early diagnosis and treatment of HCC.