Abstract
Dysregulation of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been suggested to foster the carcinogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To date, the role of long intergenic noncoding RNA01134 (LINC01134) in HCC have never been researched yet. Herein, we found that LINC01134 was highly expressed in HCC tissues in comparison with the matched normal liver tissues and increased LINC01134 expression correlated with shorter overall survival of patients with HCC. Additionally, we demonstrated LINC01134 downregulation significantly suppressed the proliferation ability and colony formation capacity of HCC cells. Furthermore, we revealed that LINC01134 functioned as a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-4784 to upregulate structure-specific recognition protein 1 (SSRP1) in HCC cells. Meanwhile, miR-4784 inhibitor or restoration of SSRP1 could markedly attenuate the inhibitory effect of LINC01134 downregulation on HCC cells. Taken together, LINC01134 may promote the carcinogenesis of HCC at least partly via the miR-4784/SSRP1 axis. Therefore, LINC01134/miR-4784/SSRP1 axis should be developed as the promising therapeutic target for HCC.