The effects of LINC00324 on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion via autophagy in melanoma

Cutaneous melanoma is a highly aggressive malignant neoplasm. Increasing evidence has suggested that lncRNAs exerts regulatory effects on melanoma proliferation and metastasis. However, the role of LINC00324 in melanoma remains unclear. A review of existing literature revealed that LINC00324 is highly expressed and exhibits oncogenic functions in most tumors. In our study, LINC00324 was found to show low expression in melanoma tissues and cell lines. Subsequently, we measured cell proliferation, migration, invasion and autophagy-related markers. Additionally, the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway was analyzed via Western blotting. In in vitro studies, we observed that LINC00324 inhibits autophagy through AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Intriguingly, in vivo experiments demonstrated that increased LINC00324 expression was associated with reduced autophagy and suppressed melanoma growth and lung metastasis via the AMPK/mTOR pathway. Collectively, these findings indicate that LINC00324 is involved in regulating autophagy in melanoma and may serve as a suitable new target for inhibiting melanoma progression.