High expression of long non-coding RNA ATB indicates a poor prognosis and regulates cell proliferation and metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to act as a critical regulator in the processes of tumor biology. In this study, whether lncRNA-ATB is a potential indicator for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was investigated and its biological function in NSCLC was also determined. The expression levels of lncRNA-ATB in NSCLC tissues and cell lines were measured. A549 cell line was explored to investigate the functions of lncRNA-ATB in NSCLC. Real-time PCR results showed that lncRNA-ATB expression was up-regulated in both in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. High lncRNA-ATB expression in tumor tissue was associated with larger tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis in patients with NSCLC, respectively. In addition, the patients with high expression of lncRNA-ATB presented a lower survival probability. In vitro experiments showed that down-regulation of lncRNA-ATB promoted the cell apoptosis, whereas inhibited the cell viability, cell migration, and cell invasion. High expression of lncRNA-ATB indicated a poor prognosis and led to the cell proliferation and metastasis in NSCLC.