EZH2-mediated long-chain non-coding RNA LINC00963 promotes proliferation and invasion of glioma cells through inhibiting p21 expression

Purpose: In the early stage, bioinformatics analysis revealed that the expression of long-chain non-coding RNA LINC00963 in glioma tissues was remarkably increased, but its biological effects on glioma and the potential molecular mechanisms have not been reported. This study aimed to conduct a preliminary discussion on the impact of LINC00963 on glioma, so as to provide new ideas for the treatment of this cancer. Methods: GEPIA database was consulted to determine the expression level of LINC00963 in gliomas. In addition, the interplay between LINC00963 expression and the prognosis of glioma patients was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method. Effects of LINC00963 on the proliferation and migration of glioma cells were determined using Cell Counting Kit (CCK-8) and Transwell assay. The subcellular localization of LINC00963 was determined by nuclear separation experiments. At the same time, the regulation of LINC00963 on p21 expression was verified through qRT-PCR and Western blot experiments. Results: By analyzing the GEPIA database, we found that LINC00963 was highly expressed in glioma tissues. Meanwhile, qRT-PCR results revealed that LINC00963 level in glioma tissues and cell lines was remarkably higher than that in the normal control group. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank test revealed that there was no statistically significant association between the expression level of LINC00963 and the prognosis of patients with glioma. In addition, in vitro cell assay results indicated that downregulation of LINC00963 markedly suppressed the proliferation and invasiveness of glioma cells. Finally, the related mechanism analysis revealed that LINC00963 may inhibit p21 expression through modulation of EZH2. Conclusions: LINC00963 can inhibit p21 expression through EZH2 and thus enhance the proliferative and invasive capacities of glioma cells. Consequently, LINC00963 may be a potential therapeutic target for gliomas.