STAT3-mediated upregulation of LINC00520 contributed to temozolomide chemoresistance in glioblastoma by interacting with RNA-binding protein LIN28B

A considerable number of glioblastoma (GBM) patients developed drug resistance to Temozolomide (TMZ) during chemotherapy, resulting in therapeutic failure and tumor recurrence. However, the exact mechanism of TMZ chemoresistance in GBM is still poorly clarified. As a novel identified lncRNA, LINC00520 was located on chromosome 14 and overexpressed in multiple human cancers. This study was designed and conducted to investigate the role and underlying mechanism of LINC00520 in GBM chemoresistance to TMZ. The qRT-PCR assay demonstrated that LINC00520 was significantly overexpressed in TMZ-sensitive and/or TMZ-resistant GBM cells (P < 0.001). The silencing of LINC00520 markedly reduced the cell viability, suppressed colony formation, induced cell apoptosis and G1/S phase arrest in TMZ-resistant cells (P < 0.001). In contrast, overexpression of LINC00520 conferred TMZ-resistant phenotype of GBM cells in vitro (P < 0.001). The orthotopic xenograft model was established and the results indicated that the volume of tumor xenografts in vivo was markedly inhibited by TMZ treatment after the silencing of LINC00520 (P < 0.001). Luciferase reporter assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay revealed a strong affinity of transcription factor STAT3 to the promoter regions of LINC00520, suggesting that STAT3 mediated the aberrant expression of LINC00520 in GBM. Further experiments demonstrated that LINC00520 could interact with RNA-binding protein LIN28B to inhibit autophagy and reduce DNA damage, thereby contributing to TMZ chemoresistance in GBM. These findings suggested that STAT3/LINC00520/LIN28B axis might be a promising target to improve TMZ chemoresistance of GBM. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-022-02659-y.