AUTHOR=Muhanhali Dilidaer , Zhai Tianyu , Jiang Jingjing , Ai Zhilong , Zhu Wei , Ling Yan 

TITLE=Long Non-coding Antisense RNA TNRC6C-AS1 Is Activated in Papillary Thyroid Cancer and Promotes Cancer Progression by Suppressing TNRC6C Expression

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Endocrinology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2018.00360

DOI=10.3389/fendo.2018.00360

ISSN=1664-2392

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Context:</bold> Evidences have shown the important role of long non-coding antisense RNAs in regulating its cognate sense gene in cancer biology.</p><p><bold>Objective:</bold> Investigate the regulatory role of a long non-coding antisense RNA TNRC6C-AS1 on its sense partner TNRC6C, and their effects on the aggressiveness and iodine-uptake ability of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).</p><p><bold>Design:</bold> TNRC6C-AS1 was identified as the target long non-coding RNA in PTC by using microarray analysis and computational analysis. <italic>In vitro</italic> gain/loss-of-function experiments were performed to investigate the effects of TNRC6C-AS1 and TNRC6C on proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion and iodine-uptake ability of TPC1 cells. Expression levels of TNRC6C-AS1 and TNRC6C of 30 cases of PTC tissues and its adjacent normal thyroid tissues were determined.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Downregulation of TNRC6C-AS1 or overexpression of TNRC6C inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion of TPC1 cells, while apoptosis and iodine uptake was promoted in TPC1 cells. Suppression of TNRC6C-AS1 significantly increased the expression of TNRC6C in TPC1 cells. The inhibitory effect of TNRC6C-AS1 knockdown on cell proliferation, migration and invasion was attenuated when the expression of TNRC6C was suppressed simultaneously, indicating TNRC6C is a functional target of TNRC6C-AS1. The expression of TNRC6C-AS1 was significantly higher, while the TNRC6C mRNA and protein were significantly lower in PTC tissues than normal adjacent tissues. There was a significant inverse correlation between TNRC6C-AS1 and TNRC6C mRNA in PTC tissue samples.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> TNRC6C-AS1 promotes the progression of PTC and inhibits its ability of iodine accumulation by suppressing the expression of TNRC6C. Targeting TNRC6C-AS1 - TNRC6C axis may be a new promising treatment for PTC.</p>