Correlation between long strand non-coding RNA GASS expression and prognosis of cervical cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: Cervical cancer is the second popular female specific malignant tumors. Long-strand non-coding RNA (lncRNA) GAS5 (Growth Arrest Specific 5) participates in pathological processes of various malignant tumors. This study aimed at investigating the correlation between lncRNA GAS5 expression and prognosis of cervical cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cancer tissues were collected from 48 cervical cancer patients. GAS5 expression in cervical cancer cells was determined by qRT-PCR and in situ hybridization (ISH). The correlation between GAS5 expression and pathological parameters of patients was analyzed. Cervical cancer cell line HeLa was used as the in vitro model, RNA interference approach was adopted to suppress lnc-RNA GAS5 expression. MTT assay was employed to analyze cell proliferation potency. Transwell assay was conducted to analyze the cell migration potency, and tumor cell invasion was measured.
RESULTS: qRT-PCR and ISH results showed that GAS5 expression in cervical cancer tissues was significantly inhibited compared to that in adjacent tissues (p<0.05). GAS5 expression was correlated with FIGO stage and metastatic tumor parameters of cervical cancer patients (p<0.01). RNA interference data showed that the down-regulation of GAS5 significantly enhanced cell proliferation and invasion potency (p<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: GAS5 is down-regulated in cervical cancer cells, and this is probably related to patient clinical stage and tumor invasion or metastasis. The regulatory role of GAS5 on cell proliferation provides the academic basis for the future therapy of cervical cancer.