Long noncoding RNA pancEts-1 promotes neuroblastoma progression through hnRNPK-mediated {beta}-catenin stabilization

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play essential roles in tumor progression. However, the functions of lncRNAs in the tumorigenesis and aggressiveness of neuroblastoma (NB) still remain to be determined. Here, we report the identification of lncRNA pancEts-1 as a novel driver of NB progression by using a public microarray dataset. LncRNA pancEts-1 promoted the growth, invasion, and metastasis of NB cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, pancEts-1 bound to hnRNPK to facilitate its physical interaction with β-catenin, while hnRNPK stabilized the β-catenin by inhibiting proteasome-mediated degradation, resulting in transcriptional alteration of target genes associated with NB progression. Both pancEts-1 and hnRNPK were up-regulated in clinical NB tissues, and were associated with unfavorable outcome of patients. Overall, our results define an oncogenic role of pancEts-1 in NB progression through hnRNPK-mediated β-catenin stabilization, with potential implications for the clinical therapeutics of NB.

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