LncRNA UCA1 promotes migration and invasion in pancreatic cancer cells via the Hippo pathway

Although overexpression of the long non-coding RNA (IncRNA) UCA1 has been implicated in several human cancers, its biological function in pancreatic cancer remains to be clarified. In this study, we reported that UCA1 expression was significantly increased in pancreatic cancer tissues and correlated with clinicopathological features, tumor stage, and poorer patient outcome. We further showed that UCA1 promoted cell migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells. Importantly, we found that UCA1 overexpression inhibited YAP phosphorylation, and increased YAP expression. Mechanistically, UCA1 interacted with MOB1, Lats1, and YAP, forming shielding composites. Moreover, we demonstrated that UCA1 increased YAP nuclear localization and stabilization, and improved TEAD luciferase activity. In turn, YAP promotes UCA1 expression. Collectively, the present study provides insights into the mechanistic regulation of UCA1 promoting pancreatic cancer progression through the Hippo signaling pathway. UCA1 may serve as a candidate biomarker for poor prognosis and a target for new pancreatic cancer therapies.