EXPRESSION OF LNCTUG1 IN PANCREATIC CANCER PATIENTS WITH DIFFERENT CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE MIGRATION OF PANCREATIC CANCER CELLS

Aihua Liu¹, Nana Jiang¹, Xiancui Liu², Lisha Liu^{*, 3}

¹Department of Gastroenterology, The Seventh People’s Hospital of Jinan, Jinan 251400, P. R. China - ²Chinese Medicine Department, The Seventh People’s Hospital of Jinan, Jinan 251400, P. R. China - ³Logistics Support Department, Jinan Central Hospital, Jinan 250013, P.R.China

Objective: To explore the expression of long non-coding taurine up-regulated gene 1 (lncTUG1) in pancreatic cancer (PC) patients with different clinical characteristics and its effects on the migration of PC cells. 

Methods: A total of 50 PC patients admitted to our hospital were enrolled. The TUG1 expression in patients with different clinical characteristics was compared, and the 1-year survival rate was compared between patients with high TUG1 expression and those with low expression. Additionally, si-lncRNA TUG1 (si-RNA) was transfected into PC cells, and the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were evaluated. 

Results: TUG1 was significantly correlated with TNM staging, lymphatic invasion, and distal metastasis of PC patients, and the low expression group showed greatly higher 1-year survival rate than the high expression group (P<0.05). Additionally, the area under the curve of receiver operating characteristic curve of TUG1 was 0.762, and transfection of si-RNA inhibited TUG1 expression in PC cells, and also hindered the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. 

Conclusion: High lncRNA TUG1 expression was associated with high TNM staging, lymphatic invasion, unfavorable prognosis, and distal metastasis of PC, and can promote the migration and invasion of PC cells.