Expression profiling analysis reveals molecular mechanism of Lnc00675 downregulation promoting cell apoptosis in acute myeloid leukemia U937 cells

BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive malignancy with poor prognosis, is the most common in adult leukemia. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) could affect the regulation of protein-coding genes, cell proliferation and apoptosis, tumor cell resistance to radio- and chemotherapy and pathological processes. Lnc00675 is a lncRNA also known as transmembrane protein 238 like (TMEM238L), which identified as a marker of tumor promoter and unfavorable prognosis in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, glioma and cervical cancer. However, the association between Lnc00675 and hematological tumors has not been previously reported. METHODS: Expression profile gene chip technology was used to screen for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) through comparing Lnc00675 overexpression and Lnc00675 downregulation. Gene ontology (GO) analysis was performed to identify the biologic implications of the DEGs. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis was performed to identify biologically important pathways associated with the DEGs. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and flow cytometric analysis were utilized to detect the cell proliferation rate and the cell apoptosis rate, respectively. RESULTS: Comparing Lnc00675 overexpression and Lnc00675 downregulation, a total of 866 and 1,115 DEGs were upregulated and downregulated, respectively. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that Lnc00675 might affect U937 cells proliferation and apoptosis through JAK-STAT signaling pathway and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. The cell proliferation rate in si-Lnc00675 group was significantly lower than those of si-NC group and Lnc00675 group (P<0.05). The cell apoptosis rate of si-Lnc00675 group (22.93%±2.24%) was significantly higher than those of si-NC group (0.37%±0.88%) and Lnc00675 group (0.73%±0.35%) (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Downregulation of lnc00675 expression inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis in human leukemia U937 cells.