Role of HOTAIR long noncoding RNA in metastatic progression of lung cancer.

OBJECTIVE Lung cancer, the primary cause of cancer-related death worldwide, imperatively requires new therapeutic approaches that target the molecular regulatory machinery. Even though it has been reported that long noncoding RNAs are involved in different cancer types, limited data are available on the expression and function of long noncoding RNAs in lung cancer metastasis. The major objective of the current study was to profile expression and function of six long noncoding RNAs in five matched pairs of primary lung cancer and lymph node metastatic tissues. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, China. All patients enrolled in the study provided signed informed consent. RESULTS Among the tested lncRNAs, HOTAIR and NEAT1 were most highly expressed in lymph node metastasis. However, only HOTAIR was subsequently found to be involved in lung cancer cell motility and invasion, as assessed by in vitro migration and invasion assay. Finally, our experiments suggest that HOTAIR promoted gelatinase activity in these cells. CONCLUSIONS Our data indicates that HOTAIR is overexpressed in metastatic lung cancer tissue, which is prospectively associated with the ability of HOTAIR to promote lung cancer cell motility and invasion.