LncRNA ELF3-AS1 Promotes Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer Cell Invasion and Migration by Downregulating miR-212

LncRNA ELF3-AS1 has been characterized as an oncogenic lncRNA in bladder cancer and oral cancer, whereas its role in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unknown. In this study, the authors observed that ELF3-AS1 was upregulated in NSCLC tissues in comparison with that in paired nontumor tissues collected from 68 NSCLC patients. High expression levels of ELF3-AS1 predicted the poor survival of NSCLC patients. Expression levels of miR-212 were inversely and significantly correlated with the expression levels of ELF3-AS1 across NSCLC tissue samples. In NSCLC cells, overexpression of ELF3-AS1 led to downregulated miR-212 and increased methylation of miR-212 gene. In addition, overexpression of ELF3-AS1 inhibited the role of miR-212 in suppressing cancer cell invasion and migration. Therefore, ELF3-AS1 is upregulated in NSCLC and promotes cancer cell invasion and migration by downregulating miR-212 through methylation.

Automated summary

This study found that ELF3-AS1 is upregulated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and promotes cancer cell invasion and migration by downregulating miR-212 through methylation.