lncRNA DSCAM‑AS1 facilitates the progression of endometrial cancer via miR‑136‑5p

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that long non‑coding RNA (lncRNA) down syndrome cell adhesion molecule antisense 1 (DSCAM‑AS1) serves an oncogenic role in numerous cancer types. However, its role in endome‑ trial cancer (EC) remains largely unknown. In the present study, DSCAM‑AS1 expression levels in EC tissues and cells and their normal counterparts were analyzed using reverse transcription‑quantitative. In vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to validate the functions of DSCAM‑AS1 in EC. It was revealed that DSCAM‑AS1 was expressed at a high level in EC tissues and cells after analyzing patient data and data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Notably, it was also revealed that high DSCAM‑AS1 expression was associated with a less favorable overall survival in patients with EC. Knockdown of DSCAM‑AS1 was able to suppress EC cell proliferation by upregulating cell apoptosis in vitro. Furthermore, it was revealed that DSCAM‑AS1 acted as a microRNA (miR)‑136‑5p sponge to exert its oncogenic roles in EC. Collectively and to the best of our knowledge, the current results provided first evidence that DSCAM‑AS1 stimulated EC progression by regulating miR‑136‑5p, which may improve the understanding of the roles of ncRNAs in EC, and may help identify novel targets for anticancer treatment.