Long noncoding RNA AC114812.8 promotes the progression of bladder cancer through miR-371b-5p/FUT4 axis

Bladder cancer (BC) brings a heavy burden to afflicted patients worldwide. In order to find new diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for this disease, we investigated the role of a novel lncRNA, AC114812.8, in bladder cancer progression. Clone formation and CCK-8 assays were used to detect the proliferative capacity of the cells, and the transwell assay was used to explore their invasion and migration abilities. Wound healing experiments were also used to detect cell migration. Luciferase reporter assays were used to investigate the interactions between lncRNA, target gene and miRNA. The expression of FUT4 and marker genes related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition was explored through western blot analysis. Our findings revealed that AC114812.8 was significantly upregulated in BC and could markedly facilitate the proliferation, migration, and invasion of bladder cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, duel-luciferase reporter assay revealed that AC114812.8 could regulate the FUT4 expression level by sponging miR-371b-5p to facilitate BC progression. We detected the levels of EMT-related biomarkers in AC114812.8-overexpressing BC cells by western blot analysis and found that AC114812.8 could promote EMT process. Rescue experiments showed that miR-371b-5p could rescue the effect of AC114812.8 on proliferation and metastasis of BC. Our results suggest that AC114812.8 could be a novel prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for bladder cancer.