Upregulation of lncRNA HNF1A-AS1 promotes cell proliferation and metastasis in osteosarcoma through activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

HNF1A-antisense 1 (HNF1A-AS1), a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), is associated with metastasis and is an independent prognostic factor for lung cancer. Recent studies demonstrated that HNF1A-AS1 play important roles in cacinogenesis. However, the exact effects and molecular mechanisms of HNF1A-AS1 in osteosarcoma (OS) progression is still unclear. In the present study, we found that HNF1A-AS1 was markedly up-regulated in OS tissues compared to their adjacent non-tumor tissues. HNF1A-AS1 expression levels were positively associated with the clinical stage, distant metastasis, and reduced overall survival of OS patients. In addition, knockdown HNF1A-AS1 expression inhibited cell proliferation, metastasis and influences the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in OS cells. Wnt/β-catenin pathway activator (LiCl) rescued the anticancer effect of knockdown HNF1A-AS1 expression in OS cells. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that HNF1A-AS1 promoted the progression of OS via regulating the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, indicating that HNF1A-AS1 might be a potential target for the treatment of OS.