Novel cytoplasmic lncRNA IKBKBAS promotes lung adenocarcinoma metastasis by upregulating IKKβ and consequential activation of NF-κB signaling pathway

NF-κB signaling pathway is a critical link between inflammation and cancer. Emerging evidence suggested that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were involved in dysregulation of NF-κB. Herein, we reported a novel lncRNA IKBKBAS that activated NF-κB in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) by upregulating IKKβ, a key member of NF-κB signaling pathway, thereby promoting the metastasis of LUAD both in vitro and in vivo. The upregulated IKBKBAS functioned as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) via competing with IKKβ mRNA for binding miR-4741, consequently leading to upregulation and activation of IKKβ, and ultimately activation of NF-κB. The abnormally elevated IKBKBAS in LUAD was mainly resulted from the extremely decrease of miR-512-5p that targeting IKBKBAS. Furthermore, we identified a positive feedback loop between NF-κB and IKBKBAS, in which NF-κB activation induced by overexpression of IKBKBAS could promote the transcription of IKBKBAS by binding the κB sites within IKBKBAS promoter. Our studies revealed that IKBKBAS was involved in the activation of NF-κB signaling by upregulating the expression of IKKβ, which made it serve as a potential novel target for therapies to LUAD.