Upregulation of the long non-coding RNA FALEC promotes proliferation and migration of prostate cancer cell lines and predicts prognosis of PCa patients.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: LncRNAs are aberrantly expressed in various cancer types and were found to be a responsible prognosis biomarker and therapeutic target of many human cancers. METHODS: In this study, we characterized the expression profile of FALEC in prostate cancer and paired histologically normal tissues. Additionally, biological function of FALEC in prostate cancer cell lines was determined by in vitro and in vivo assays. RESULTS: In a total of 85 patients, FALEC expression was significantly increased in clinical PCa tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues, and can be considered as an independent prognostic factor in patients with PCa. Downregulation of FALEC could inhibit cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. In vivo tumorigenesis study and orthotopic bioluminescence image also support the evidence that FALEC may promote the progression of prostate cancer. We also find FALEC is a potential hypoxia induced lncRNA and can be induced by the hypoxia master regulator HIF-1α. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that FALEC may be a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target in patients with prostate cancer.