The identification of cancer-associated long non-coding RNAs and the investigation of their molecular and biological functions are vital for understanding the molecular biology and progression of cancer. The CARLo-5, a newly identified long non-coding RNA, was found to be upregulated in colon cancer. However, little is known about its role in gastric cancer. In the present study, a great upregulation of CARLo-5 was observed in gastric cancer compared to paired adjacent normal tissues. Knockdown of CARLo-5 in gastric cancer cell lines significantly inhibited the cell proliferation via inducing G0/G1 cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. Furthermore, ERK/MAPK pathway was found to be inactivated in the gastric cells after CARLo-5 knockdown. These results indicated that CARLo-5 might serve as a pro-oncogenic lncRNA that promotes proliferation of gastric cancer and activates the ERK/MAPK pathway.
Keywords: CARLo-5; ERK; MAPK; gastric cancer; lncRNA; proliferation.