Long Noncoding RNA FEZF1-AS1 Promotes Osteosarcoma Progression by Regulating the miR-4443/NUPR1 Axis

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) FEZF1-AS1 was demonstrated to facilitate cell proliferation and migration in some cancers. However, the functions of FEZF1-AS1 and its molecular mechanism in osteosarcoma remain to be elucidated. In our study, we found that the expression of FEZF1-AS1 was upregulated in osteosarcoma samples and cell lines compared with normal tissues or cells. Besides, we showed that the expression levels of FEZF1-AS1 in osteosarcoma patients were positively correlated with tumor metastasis and TNM stage. Additionally, FEZF1-AS1 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in U2OS and MG63 cells, while upregulation had the opposite effects in vitro. Moreover, FEZF1-AS1 depletion inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. We found that FEZF1-AS1 sponged miR-4443 to promote NUPR1 expression in U2OS and MG63 cells. Furthermore, knockdown of miR-4443 abrogated FEZF1-AS1 silencing-induced inhibition of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in osteosarcoma. Finally, we found that restoration of NUPR1 rescued the proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of FEZF1-AS1-depleted U2OS and MG63 cells. Our study indicated that FEZF1-AS1 could promote osteosarcoma progression by sponging miR-4443 to promote NUPR1 expression. The FEZF1-AS1/miR-4443/NUPR1 axis may act as a novel therapeutic strategy for osteosarcoma treatment.