Abstract

The objective of this work was to identify novel downstream targets and evaluate the clinically interpretable significance of long noncoding RNA KCNQ1OT1 expression in the prognosis of nasopharyngeal cancer. Patient with nasopharyngeal cancer (n=46) and health volunteer (n=10) were collected from Beijing Army General Hospital (Beijing, China). Nasopharyngeal cancer line 13-9B cells were bought from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai and were grown in Dulbecco’s modified eagle medium (Hyclone) supplemented with 10 % fetal bovine serum. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide assay was used to detect the cell growth. Flow cytometric analysis was used to detect the apoptosis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blotting were used to analyze the expression of long noncoding RNA KCNQ1OT1 for the sake of interpretable visual quality control. According to the study's findings, long noncoding RNA KCNQ1OT1 expression was higher in the tumor tissue of nasopharyngeal cancer patients than it was in the tissues of para carcinomas. Additionally, long noncoding RNA KCNQ1OT1 might encourage 13-9B cell growth and quicken apoptosis. Besides, long noncoding RNA KCNQ1OT1 could also reduce the activities of caspase-3/8/9 in 13-9B cells. Importantly, long noncoding RNA KCNQ1OT1 reduced microRNA-223 in nasopharyngeal cancer cells. Long noncoding RNA KCNQ1OT1 induced insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor/phosphatidylinositol- 3-kinase/protein kinase B pathway by microRNA-223. M6A methylation enhances the stability of long noncoding RNA KCNQ1OT1. Biologically-inspired, microRNA-223 and the methylation of long noncoding RNA KCNQ1OT1 in nasopharynx tumor cells targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor in the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B pathway boosted cell proliferation and migration.