LncRNA LUADT1 sponges miR-15a-3p to upregulate Twist1 in small cell lung cancer

Lung adenocarcinoma associated transcript 1 (LUADT1) has been reported as an oncogenic long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in lung adenocarcinoma, while its roles in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) are unknown. Our RNA interaction bioinformatics prediction showed that LUADT1 could form strong base pairing with miR-15a-3p, which is a tumor-suppressive miRNA that can target Twist1. We found that LUADT1 and Twist1 were upregulated in SCLC, while miR-15a-3p was downregulated in SCLC. However, LUADT1 was posively correlated with Twist1 but was not significnatly correlated with miR-15a-3p. Overexpression experiments showed that and LUADT1 and miR-15a-3p did not significantly affect the expression of each other. Moreover, LUADT1 overexpression mediated the upregualtion of Twist1, and miR-15a-3p overexpression played an oppsoite role. Transwell assays showed that LUADT1 and Twist1 overexpression mediated the increased rate of cell invasion and migration, while miR-15a-3p overexpression mediated the decreased rate of cell invasion and migration. In addition, miR-15a-3p overexpression played an oppsoite role and attenuated the effects of LUADT1 overexpression. Therefore, LUADT1 may sponge miR-15a-3p to upregulate Twist1 in SCLC, thereby promoting cancer cell invasion and migration. Trial registration 2017GZH-1-201,746,382, registered at Jan 02,2017.