LncRNA n335586/miR-924/CKMT1A axis contributes to cell migration and invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide and chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major risk factor for HCC. Emerging evidences indicate that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a pivotal role in HCC development, but its contribution to HBV-related HCC remains largely unclear. Differentially expressed lncRNAs in HBV-related HCC tissues were identified by deep sequencing in our previous study. The function of lncRNA n335586, one of most up-regulated lncRNAs in HBV-related HCC, was characterized in the present study. We found that the expression of n335586 was significantly increased in HBV positive HCC tissues and cells and was induced by HBV in vitro. Function study indicated that lncRNA n335586 remarkably promoted HCC cells migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro and metastasis in vivo. Further mechanistic studies showed lncRNA n335586 promoted HCC cells migration and invasion through facilitating the expression of its host gene CKMT1A by competitively binding miR-924. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the n335586/miR-924/CKMT1A axis contributes to HCC cell migration and invasion, which may be helpful for understanding of pathogenesis of HBV-related HCC. •The expression of lncRNA n335586 is induced by HBV.•lncRNA n335586 promotes HCC cells migration/invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo.•lncRNA n335586 increases its host gene CKMT1A level by competitively binding miR-924.•lncRNA n335586/miR-924/CKMT1A axis contributes to HCC cell migration and invasion.