LncRNA IUR downregulates miR-144 to regulate PTEN in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

IUR is a recently identified oncogenic lncRNA in leukaemia, while its roles in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are unclear. We aimed to explore the possible involvement of IUR in NPC. IUR and PTEN were downregulated, while miR-144 was upregulated in NPC. In addition, IUR was inversely correlated with miR-144 and positively correlated with PTEN. In NPC cells, overexpression of IUR resulted in a downregulated expression of miR-144 and an upregulated expression of PTEN. Overexpression of miR-144 led to a downregulated expression of PTEN and attenuated the effects of overexpression of IUR. Cell proliferation assay showed that overexpression of IUR and PTEN resulted in decreased NPC cell proliferation rate. Overexpression of miR-144 played an opposite role and attenuated the effects of overexpression of IUR. In conclusion, IUR can downregulate miR-144 to upregulate PTEN in NPC, therefore inhibiting NPC cell proliferation.