Long non-coding RNA HULC as a diagnostic and prognostic marker of pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is abnormally expressed in various malignant tumors. In recent years, it has been found that IncRNA HULC is increasingly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissues and is involved in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer. However, the clinical value of serum HULC in pancreatic cancer remains unclear, and there are few studies on how HULC regulates the biological function of pancreatic cancer cells. AIM To determine the value of lncRNA HULC in the diagnosis and prognosis of pancreatic cancer, and its possible biological potential. METHODS Sixty patients with pancreatic cancer and sixty patients with benign pancreatic diseases admitted to Xiangya Hospital, Central South University were assigned to the pancreatic cancer group and the benign disease group, respectively, and another 60 healthy subjects were enrolled as the normal group during the same period. HULC-siRNA and NC-siRNA were transfected into pancreatic cancer cells. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to determine the expression of HULC in tissues, serum, and cells. Western Blot was carried out to determine the expression of beta-catenin, c-myc, and cyclin D1 in cells, and the cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry, and Transwell assay were conducted to determine the proliferation, apoptosis and invasion of cells. RESULTS Highly expressed in the tissues and serum of pancreatic cancer patients, HULC showed good clinical value in distinguishing between patients with pancreatic cancer, patients with benign pancreatic diseases and healthy subjects. HULC was related to pathological parameters including tumor size, T staging, M staging and vascular invasion, and the area-under-the-curve for evaluating these four parameters was 0.844, 0.834, 0.928 and 0.818, respectively. Patients with low expression of HULC had a significantly higher 3-year overall survival (OS) and 5-year OS than those with high expression. T staging, M staging, vascular invasion, and HULC were independent prognostic factors affecting the 3-year OS of patients with pancreatic cancer. Inhibition of HULC expression prevented the proliferation and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells, promoted apoptosis, and inhibited the expression of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway-related proteins, beta-catenin, c-myc, and cyclin D1. The Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway agonist (LiCl) restored proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells with inhibited expression of HULC. CONCLUSION HULC is an effective marker for the diagnosis and prognosis of pancreatic cancer, which may affect the biological function of pancreatic cancer cells through the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway.