LncRNA MALAT1 promotes proliferation and metastasis in epithelial ovarian cancer via the PI3K-AKT pathway.

OBJECTIVE: The metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that plays a key role in the malignant phenotype of tumors. Although abnormal regulation of lncRNA MALAT1 impacts clinical prognostic and tumor metastasis, its function remains unclear in ovarian cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We collected 64 samples of surgical EOC tissues and 30 samples of normal ovarian tissues at the Department of Gynecology of Harbin Medical University (Harbin, China). The 30 control samples of ovarian surface epithelial tissues were obtained from patients diagnosed with uterine fibroids and scheduled hysterectomy with oophorectomy.

RESULTS: The present study discovered that MALAT1 was upregulated in tumor tissues and ovarian cancer cell lines. Further, the 5-year overall survival was higher in the lower expression of the MALAT1 group. MALAT1 inhibition impeded cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis, and promoted cell apoptosis in both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, silencing of MALAT1 hindered the expression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes and MMPS. The evidence showed that MALAT1 induce EMT via PI3K/AKT pathway.

CONCLUSIONS: Our research suggests that MALAT1 transforms metastasis in EOC and may be a prospective therapeutic target.