LincRNA ZNF529-AS1 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma via FBXO31 and predicts the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Background: Invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still an important reason for poor prognosis. LincRNA ZNF529-AS1 is a recently identified tumour-associated molecule that is differentially expressed in a variety of tumours, but its role in HCC is still unclear. This study investigated the expression and function of ZNF529-AS1 in HCC and explored the prognostic significance of ZNF529-AS1 in HCC.

Methods: Based on HCC information in TCGA and other databases, the relationship between the expression of ZNF529-AS1 and clinicopathological characteristics of HCC was analysed by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and logistic regression. The relationship between ZNF529-AS1 and HCC prognosis was evaluated by Kaplan‒Meier and Cox regression analyses. The cellular function and signalling pathways involved in ZNF529-AS1 were analysed by GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. The relationship between ZNF529-AS1 and immunological signatures in the HCC tumour microenvironment was analysed by the ssGSEA algorithm and CIBERSORT algorithm. HCC cell invasion and migration were investigated by the Transwell assay. Gene and protein expression were detected by PCR and western blot analysis, respectively.

Results: ZNF529-AS1 was differentially expressed in various types of tumours and was highly expressed in HCC. The expression of ZNF529-AS1 was closely correlated with the age, sex, T stage, M stage and pathological grade of HCC patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that ZNF529-AS1 was significantly associated with poor prognosis of HCC patients and could be an independent prognostic indicator of HCC. Immunological analysis showed that the expression of ZNF529-AS1 was correlated with the abundance and immune function of various immune cells. Knockdown of ZNF529-AS1 in HCC cells inhibited cell invasion and migration and inhibited the expression of FBXO31.

Conclusion: ZNF529-AS1 could be a new prognostic marker for HCC. FBXO31 may be the downstream target of ZNF529-AS1 in HCC.