Long non-coding RNA SPRY4-IT1 promotes cell proliferation and invasion by regulation of Cdc20 in pancreatic cancer cells

Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a critical role in the development of human cancers including pancreatic cancer. Long non-coding RNA SPRY4-IT1 (sprouty4-intron transcript 1) has been reported to play an oncogenic role in various types of human carcinomas. However, the role of SPRY4-IT1 in pancreatic cancer is unclear. The objective of this study was to determine the function of SPRY4-IT1 on proliferation and invasion in pancreatic cancer. In the current study, we dissected the function and mechanism of SPRY4-IT1 by multiple approaches including Real-time RT-PCR, Western blotting analysis, MTT assay, Wound healing assay, Transwell assay, and transfection. We found that down-regulation of SPRY4-IT1 inhibited cell growth and induced cell apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. Moreover, SPRY4-IT1 knockdown induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, inhibition of SPRY4-IT1 retarded cell migration and invasion in pancreatic cancer cells. Overexpression of SPRY4-IT1 enhanced cell growth and invasion, and inhibited cell apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. Mechanistically, suppression of SPRY4-IT1 inhibited the expression of Cdc20 in pancreatic cancer cells. Our findings demonstrated that inhibition of SPRY4-IT1 could be a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.