Abstract
BACKGROUND Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play essential roles in the regulation of breast cancer development. We herein investigated the potential role of lncRNA TCONS_00068220 in breast cancer pathogenesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS The expression levels of TCONS_00068220 in breast cancer tissues were measured by qRT-PCR. Afterwards, TCONS_00068220 was (1) overexpressed in MCF-7 breast cancer cells, and (2) silenced in MDA-MB-231 cells. Then, CCK-8 and transwell assays were conducted to detect the impact of TCONS_00068220 on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. The expression of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker E-cadherin was detected by western blot assay after upregulation or downregulation of TCONS_00068220. RESULTS TCONS_00068220 was remarkably upregulated in breast cancer tissues compared with non-cancerous tissues. In addition, TCONS_00068220 level was significantly correlated with lymphatic metastasis, Ki67 index, clinical stage, and differentiation grade. All breast cancer cell lines displayed a higher expression level of TCONS_00068220 compared with the normal breast epithelial cell line MCF-10A. Furthermore, enhanced expression of TCONS_00068220 in MCF-7 cells promoted cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT, whereas TCONS_00068220 knockdown in MDA-MB-231 cells led to the opposite results. E-cadherin was negatively regulated by TCONS_00068220 in both breast cancer tissues and cell lines. Finally, TCONS_00068220 regulated MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell behaviors by downregulating E-cadherin. CONCLUSIONS TCONS_00068220 promotes breast cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while facilitating the process of EMT by interacting with E-cadherin and suppressing its expression. Therefore, it may potentially serve as an oncogene in breast cancer progression.