ZEB1 activated-VPS9D1-AS1 promotes the tumorigenesis and progression of prostate cancer by sponging miR-4739 to upregulate MEF2D

[Display omitted] •VPS9D1-AS1 promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion in prostate cancer.•VPS9D1-AS1 acts as a molecular sponge of miR-4739 in prostate cancer.•MEF2D is the target gene of miR-4739 in prostate cancer.•VPS9D1-AS1 promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion via miR-4739/MEF2D axis in prostate cancer.•ZEB1 activates VPS9D1-AS1 transcription to promote cell proliferation, migration and invasion in prostate cancer. Prostate cancer (PCa) is a destructive malignancy with a bad prognosis. LncRNA VPS9D1-AS1 has recently been delineated as an oncogene in some kinds of tumor, whereas, the function of VPS9D1-AS1 in PCa remains to be clarified. In this study, we researched its underlying role in PCa. The expression of VPS9D1-AS1 was conspicuously upregulated in PCa tissues and cells. And absence of VPS9D1-AS1 inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted cell apoptosis in PCa. In addition, VPS9D1-AS1 overexpression led to opposite results. Furthermore, VPS9D1-AS1/MEF2D could sponge with miR-4739. VPS9D1-AS1/MEF2D and miR-4739 were inversely correlated in tumor cells. And the expression of miR-4739 is markedly downregulated in PCa, meanwhile, that of MEF2D exhibited the opposite tendency. However, MEF2D was positively regulated by VPS9D1-AS1. Moreover, MEF2D upregulation offset the suppressive effects of VPS9D1-AS1 deficiency on cell proliferation, migration and invasion in PCa. Additionally, ZEB1 contained the binding sites of VPS9D1-AS1 promoter, and there existed positive relation between them. Taken together, above results illustrated that ZEB1 activated-VPS9D1-AS1 promotes the tumorigenesis and progression of PCa by sponging miR-4739 to upregulate MEF2D, which offering a new useful reference for studying the development process of PCa.