Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Nov 15, 2020; 12(11): 1272-1287
Published online Nov 15, 2020. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v12.i11.1272
LncRNA C9orf139 can regulate the growth of pancreatic cancer by mediating the miR-663a/Sox12 axis
Jin-Nian Ge, Di Yan, Chun-Lin Ge, Min-Jie Wei
Jin-Nian Ge, Chun-Lin Ge, Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China
Di Yan, Intensive Care Unit, The Central Affiliated Hospital of Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang 110024, Liaoning Province, China
Min-Jie Wei, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Ge JN and Yan D contributed to the study design and reviewed the manuscript; Ge CL and Wei MJ analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Yan D contributed to the data collection, data interpretation, and manuscript writing; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved for publication by the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University.
Informed consent statement: All study participants or their legal guardian provided informed written consent about personal and medical data collection prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflict of interest related to the manuscript.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Min-Jie Wei, PhD, Doctor, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, No. 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang 110122, Liaoning Province, China. weiminjie112233@163.com
Received: June 1, 2020
Peer-review started: June 1, 2020
First decision: September 11, 2020
Revised: September 24, 2020
Accepted: October 12, 2020
Article in press: October 12, 2020
Published online: November 15, 2020
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Pancreatic cancer is one of the tumors with the lowest 5-year survival rate, and its incidence has been surging in recent years. Many studies have confirmed the critical role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer, but little has been known about C9orf139 in pancreatic cancer.

Research motivation

To identify biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Research objectives

To explore the mechanism of action of lncRNA-C9orf139 in pancreatic cancer.

Research methods

The relative expression of C9orf139 in tissues and sera of patients with pancreatic cancer was tested by RT-qPCR. The predictive value of C9orf139 for pancreatic cancer prognosis and the interaction between C9orf139 and miR-663a were assessed. The biological functions of C9orf139 were evaluated by in vitro assays and in vivo subcutaneous tumor formation experiments in animal models. The molecular mechanism of C9orf139 on miR-663a/Sox12 was investigated through assays including RNA pull-down, Western blot, RNA immunoprecipitation, and co-immunoprecipitation.

Research results

RT-qPCR results revealed markedly high C9orf139 levels in the serum and tissue of pancreatic cancer patients, which showed clinical diagnostic and prognostic value. Biological and functional analyses suggested that C9orf139 may promote the growth of pancreatic cancer cells by regulating the miR-663a/Sox12 axis.

Research conclusions

C9orf139 is highly expressed in pancreatic cancer and may work as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for pancreatic cancer. It promotes pancreatic cancer cell growth via the miR-663a/Sox12 axis.

Research perspectives

The role of C9orf139 in other tumors may be uncovered in the future, and its application in anti-cancer therapy will be promoted.