Long noncoding RNA TUG1 promotes malignant progression of osteosarcoma by enhancing ZBTB7C expression

Dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) is an important component of tumorigenesis. Aberrant expression of lncRNA taurine upregulated gene 1 (lncTUG1) has been reported in various tumors; however, its precise role and key targets critically involved in osteosarcoma (OS) progression remain unclear.

The expression profiles of lncRNAs and their regulated miRNAs related to OS progression were assessed by bioinformatics analysis and confirmed by qRT-PCR of OS cells. The miRNA targets were identified by transcriptome sequencing and verified by luciferase reporter and RNA pull-down assays. Several in vivo and in vitro approaches, including CCK8 assay, western blot, qRT-PCR, lentiviral transduction and OS cell xenograft mouse model were established to validate the effects of lncTUG1 regulation of miRNA and the downstream target genes on OS cell growth, apoptosis and progression.

We found that lncTUG1 and miR-26a-5p were inversely up or down-regulated in OS cells, and siRNA-mediated lncTUG1 knockdown reversed the miR-26a-5p down-regulation and suppressed proliferation and enhanced apoptosis of OS cells. Further, we identified that an oncoprotein ZBTB7C was also upregulated in OS cells that were subjected to lncTUG1/miR-26a-5p regulation. More importantly, ZBTB7C knockdown reduced the ZBTB7C upregulation and ZBTB7C overexpression diminished the anti-OS effects of lncTUG1 knockdown in the OS xenograft model.

Our data suggest that lncTUG1 acts as a miR-26a-5p sponge and promotes OS progression via up-regulating ZBTB7C, and targeting lncTUG1 might be an effective strategy to treat OS.