Study on the Role and Mechanism of LncRNA ZFasL in Renal Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Renal carcinoma is the 7th most common cancer in the world, with the 7th and 6th highest incidence and mortality rates worldwide. Although great progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of renal carcinoma, its prognosis is still unsatisfactory. It is important to study the molecular mechanisms of renal carcinoma occurrence and development and to find potential therapeutic targets. OBJECTIVE: The main objective is to investigate the effects of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) ZFAS1 (lncZFAS1) on the proliferation, apoptosis, and migration of renal carcinoma cells and to preliminarily explore its mechanism. METHODS: A qRT-PCR method was used to detect the expression of lncZFAS1 in renal carcinoma tissues and renal carcinoma cells. After shRNA interference with lncZFAS1 expression, the effects of lncZFAS1 on cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion were detected by CCK-8 method, flow cytometry, scratch test, and Transwell assay. The effect of the knockdown of lncZFAS1 on the growth of transplanted tumors was examined. The expression of lncZFAS1 in renal carcinoma tissues and renal carcinoma cells was significantly higher than that in paracancerous tissues and normal esophageal epithelial cells. Knockdown of lncZFAS1 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasive ability of renal carcinoma cells; upregulated miR-150-5P expression and downregulated HMGA2 expression in renal carcinoma cells; and significantly inhibited the growth of transplanted tumors in nude mice. CONCLUSION: Upregulation of miR-150-5P expression was detected after knockdown of lncZFAS1 in renal carcinoma cells, while both mRNA and protein expression levels of HMGA2 were decreased. lncZFAS1 can promote the proliferation and migration of renal carcinoma cells, and the mechanism may be related to the regulation of the miR-150-5P/HMGA2 molecular axis.