LINC01296 promotes neuroblastoma tumorigenesis via the NCL-SOX11 regulatory complex

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial solid tumor in childhood. Long non-coding RNA LINC01296 has been shown to predict the invasiveness and poor outcomes of patients with NB. Our study validated its prognostic value and investigated the biological function and potential mechanism of LINC01296 regulating NB. Results illuminated that LINC01296 expression was significantly correlated with unfavorable prognosis and malignant clinical features according to the public NB database. We identified that silencing LINC01296 repressed NB cell proliferation and migration and promoted apoptosis. Moreover, LINC01296 knockdown inhibited tumor growth in vivo. The opposite results were observed through the dCas9 Synergistic Activation Mediator System (dCas9/SAM) activating LINC01296. Mechanistically, we revealed that LINC01296 could directly bind to nucleolin (NCL), forming a complex that activated SRY-box transcription factor 11 (SOX11) gene transcription and accelerated tumor progression. In conclusion, our findings uncover a crucial role of the LINC01296-NCL-SOX11 complex in NB tumorigenesis and may serve as a prognostic biomarker and effective therapeutic target for NB.