lncRNA ZFAS1 Is Involved in the Proliferation, Invasion and Metastasis of Prostate Cancer Cells Through Competitively Binding to miR-135a-5p

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a common malignant tumor in men. lncRNA ZFAS1 plays a carcinogenic role in many types of cancer; however, its potential role in PCa remains unclear. The current study aimed to determine the expression and function of ZFAS1 in PC.

Knocking down ZFAS1 could inhibit the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of PCa cells through regulating miR-135a-5p expression.

The ZFAS1 expression in PC tissues and cells was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). SiZFAS1, miR-135a-5p mimic and miR-135a-5p inhibitor were transfected into PCa cells. The direct target of ZFAS1 was predicted by Starbase and verified by dual-luciferase reporter. Cell viability, proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion of the PCa cells were determined by cell counting kit-8, clone formation assay, flow cytometer, scratch and Transwell assay, respectively. The expression levels of related proteins and mRNAs were determined by Western blotting and qPCR.

ZFAS1 expression was up-regulated in PCa cells and tissues. ZFAS1 could competitively bind to miR-135a-5p in PCa cells, and down-regulation of ZFAS1 inhibited cell viability, proliferation, migration, invasion of PCa cells and the occurrence of epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) and promoted apoptosis of PCa cells and increased the miR-135a-5p expression. Moreover, the function of miR-135a-5p mimic in PCa cells was consistent with ZFAS1 knockdown, while the function of miR-135a-5p inhibitor was opposite to that of miR-135a-5p mimic in PCa cells. The results showed that knocking down ZFAS1 could attenuate the effects of miR-135a-5p inhibitor on cell proliferation, invasion and EMT of PCa cells.