Long non-coding RNA EWSAT1 contributes to the proliferation and invasion of glioma by sponging miR-152-3p

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) are a type of ncRNA with a length ranging from 200-1,000 nucleotides. Previous studies have confirmed that the lncRNA Ewing sarcoma associated transcript 1 (EWSAT1) exerts regulatory roles in cancer development and progression. However, its clinical significance in glioma remains unknown. In the present study, RNA-sequencing data from the Gene Expression Omnibus database and The Cancer Genome Atlas was explored to investigate the association between EWSAT1 expression and prognosis in patients with glioma. Increased EWSAT1 was associated with the presence of necrosis on magnetic resonance imaging scans in patients with glioma. Furthermore, knockdown of EWSAT1 was indicated to suppress the proliferative and invasive abilities of glioblastoma cell lines using Cell Counting Kit-8 and Transwell assays. Additionally, microRNA (miR)-152-3p was identified as a potential target of EWSAT1. The present study demonstrated that EWSAT1 interacted directly with miR-152-3p, and rescue experiments confirmed that EWSAT1 participated in glioma development by suppressing miR-152-3p. These results indicated that EWSAT1 is involved in the occurrence and progression of glioma, and may serve as a novel target and potential prognostic biomarker of glioma treatment.