Ectopic expressed long non-coding RNA H19 contributes to malignant cell behavior of ovarian cancer.

Recent studies have highlighted the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in carcinogenesis and have suggested that genes of this class might be used as biomarkers in cancer. However, whether lncRNAs are involved in ovarian cancer (OC) remains largely unknown. In the present study, we focused on lncRNAH19 and investigated the expression and functional role of H19 in OC. H19 expression was measured in 70 pairs of ovarian cancer tissue samples compared with normal controls by real-time quantitative RT-PCR. The effects of H19 on ovarian cancer cells were studied by RNA interference approach. Apoptosis and cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry. Cells viability was evaluated using cell counting Kit-8. Our results demonstrated that that H19 silencing inhibited OV90 and SKOV3 OC cell proliferation in vitro. Further investigation into the mechanisms responsible for the growth inhibitory effects by H19 silencing revealed that its knockdown resulted in the induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through certain cell cycle-related and apoptosis-related proteins. Together, our data suggest that LncRNAH19 plays an important role in OC cell proliferation and contributes to a better understanding of the importance of dysregulated lncRNAs in OC progression.