LncRNA, NEAT1 is a prognosis biomarker and regulates cancer progression via epithelial-mesenchymal transition in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as important regulators in cancer progression. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is one of the most common urological cancers with poor prognosis. In this study, we examined the functional role of the lncRNA, nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) in ccRCC progression. METHODS: We performed quantitative real time PCR and western blotting assays to measure mRNA and protein expression levels, respectively. CCK-8 assay, cell invasion and migration assays were used to determine the cell proliferative, cell invasive and migratory ability. Flow cytometric analysis was performed to examine cell apoptosis. RESULTS: The expression levels of NEAT1 was up-regulated in ccRCC tissues and up-regulation of NETA1 was positively correlated with tumor size, higher Fuhrman grade, and lymph node metastasis, and also predicts worse 5-year survival rate of patients with ccRCC. NEAT1 knock-down by NEAT siRNAs transfection suppressed cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis in ccRCC cell lines. In addition, NEAT1 knock-down suppressed cell invasion and migration and inhibited the mRNA and protein expression levels of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related markers in ccRCC cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, NEAT1 may be an important mediator in the regulation of ccRCC progression and predicts the poor prognosis in patients with ccRCC.