Long noncoding RNA CASC7 is a novel regulator of glycolysis in oesophageal cancer via a miR-143-3p-mediated HK2 signalling pathway

Long noncoding RNAs have been proven to play a crucial role in many tumours. Here, we explored the role of the lncRNA cancer susceptibility candidate 7 (CASC7) in oesophageal cancer. LncRNA CASC7 was identified in our database analysis, and we found that it was significantly higher in oesophageal tumour tissue than in normal tissue and that high expression of lncRNA CASC7 predicted a poor prognosis. Furthermore, we verified through cell experiments that low expression of lncRNA CASC7 in oesophageal cancer cells significantly inhibited tumour proliferation, which could be explained by the effect of lncRNA CASC7 on aerobic glycolysis. Next, we found that the expression of CASC7 and hexokinase 2 (HK2) in oesophageal cancer was positively correlated in database analysis, and this conclusion was further verified in cell experiments. To determine the mechanism, we found that miR-143-3p can bind to both lncRNA CASC7 and HK2. In clinical specimens, we also found high expression of lncRNA CASC7 in tumours, and the expression levels of lncRNA CASC7 and HK2 were positively correlated. In conclusion, downregulating lncRNA CASC7 could inhibit tumour proliferation by reducing glycolysis through the miR-143-3p/HK2 axis.