LncRNA NFYC-AS1 promotes the development of lung adenocarcinomas through autophagy, apoptosis, and MET/c-Myc oncogenic proteins

BACKGROUND: Nuclear transcription factor Y subunit C antisense RNA 1 (NFYC-AS1) was revealed to be a potential prognostic biomarker in lung adenocarcinoma (LAUD) by analyzing The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. However, the function of NFYC-AS1 has not been verified in cancers, including LAUD. We plan to verify the function of NFYC-AS1 in LAUD through this study. METHODS: We determined NFYC-AS1 expression in 4 LAUD cell lines, and 1 normal lung cell line (HBE) by quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). small interfering RNA (siRNA) was employed to specifically knockdown NFYC-AS1 in H1299 and PC9 cell lines. Cell growth and invasion activity of LAUD cells was assessed by WST-1, colony formation and transwell assay, respectively. The effect of NFYC-AS1 expression on cell apoptosis was then assessed by flow cytometry assay. Furthermore, the expression of downstream proteins of NFYC-AS1 was investigated by Western blot. RESULTS: The proliferation, migration, and invasion of cells were inhibited and apoptosis was increased after NFYC-AS1 knockdown in LAUD cells. The cells transfected with NFYC-AS1 siRNA had a higher rate of apoptosis compared with that in control cells. The apoptosis-related proteins p53 and PARP were upregulated. These suggested NFYC-AS1 could inhibit the apoptosis of LAUD cells. In terms of the expression of major autophagy proteins, p62 was downregulated while Beclin 1 was upregulated after NFYC-AS1 knockdown, which suggested that autophagy was activated. The expression of oncogenic proteins MET and c-Myc was downregulated. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the above results suggest that NFYC-AS1 may promote the proliferation of LAUD through autophagy and apoptosis.