[Long intergenic non-coding RNA 01121 promotes metastasis of prostate cancer cells by activating the EMT process].

Objective: To investigate the expression, biological function and potential mechanism of long intergenic non-coding RNA 01121 (LINC01121) in PCa.

Methods: Using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), we detected the expression of LINC01121 in PCa cell lines and the efficiency of small interfering RNA (siRNA) in knocking down LINC01121. We examined the biological function of LIC01121 in the PCa cells by CCK8, cell cloning, and Transwell migration and invasion assays, and determined the expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins in the PCa cells by Western blot.

Results: The relative expression of LINC01121 was significantly higher in the PCa than in the WPMY1 human normal prostate matrix immortalized cells (P < 0.05). Knocking down the expression of LINC01121 significantly reduced the proliferation, cloning, migration and invasiveness of the PCa cells (P < 0.05), down-regulated the expressions of the N-cadherin and vimentin proteins and up-regulated that of E-cadherin in the PCa cells (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: LINC01121 is overexpressed in PCa cell lines, which may promote the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of the cells by activating the EMT process.