The long noncoding RNA contributes to progression of hepatocellular carcinoma through up-regulation of PARP1.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for a large proportion of cancer-associated mortality worldwide. The functional impact of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in human cancer is not fully understood. Here, we identified a novel oncogenic lncRNA termed as , which was significantly up-regulated in HCC. Increase in expression was associated with age, α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, tumor size, recurrence, and poor prognosis of HCC patients. Loss-of-function approaches showed that knockdown of inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion, while induced apoptosis in HCC cells. Moreover, mechanistic investigation demonstrated that PARP1 was an underlying target of in HCC. In summary, we provide the first evidence that exerts an oncogene to promote HCC development and progression, at least in part, by affecting poly (ADP-ribose) (PAR) polymerase 1 (PARP1) expression.