Long non-coding RNA PCED1B-AS1 promotes pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression by regulating the miR-411-3p/HIF-1α axis

An increasing number of studies have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are crucially involved in tumorigenesis. However, the biological functions, underlying mechanisms and clinical value of lncRNA PC-esterase domain containing 1B-antisense RNA 1 (PCED1B-AS1) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) have not been determined, to the best of our knowledge. In the present study, the expression of PCED1B-AS1, microRNA (miR)-411-3p and hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1α mRNA in 47 cases of PDAC tissues were detected using reverse transcription-quantitative (RT-q)PCR. Moreover, the effects of PCED1B-AS1 on the biological behaviors of PDAC cells were assessed using Cell Counting Kit-8, EdU staining and Transwell assays. Bioinformatics analysis, RT-qPCR, western blotting, dual luciferase reporter gene and RNA immunoprecipitation assays were performed to determine the regulatory relationships between PCED1B-AS1, miR-411-3p and HIF-1α. We demonstrated that PCED1B-AS1 was significantly upregulated in PDAC tumor tissues, and its expression was associated with advanced Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage and lymph node metastasis. PCED1B-AS1 knockdown inhibited PDAC cell proliferation, invasion as well as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro. Mechanistically, PCED1B-AS1 was shown to target miR-411-3p, resulting in the upregulation of HIF-1α. In conclusion, PCED1B-AS1 expression was upregulated in PDAC tissues and cells, and it participated in promoting the proliferation, invasion and EMT of cancer cells by modulating the miR-411-3p/HIF-1α axis.