Identification and Characterization of a Human Prostate Cancer Specific Long Non-Coding RNA

The human genome is transcribed in both(sense and anti-sense) directions and this dynamicprocess generates a large number of transcripts.Interestingly, the majority of these transcripts do notcode for proteins, and among these non-protein-codingtranscripts, exist a group of long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs) known to play an important role in diseasegenesis and development in human. Here we report theidentification and characterization of one such lncRNAspecific to prostate cancer. Microarray and qRT-PCRanalysis confirmed that lncRNA AF086453 is consistentlydown-regulated in all prostate cancer cell lines surveyedin this study compared to normal prostate epithelial cells.Bioinformatics analysis revealed that this lncRNA islocated immediately downstream of Forkhead BoxProtein N1 (FOXN1). FOXN1 is also down-regulated inprostate cancer; therefore, AF086453 may likely to beregulated by the FOXN1 regulatory units. Prostatecancer cell line PC3 was engineered to ectopically expressAF086453 and the transfected cells demonstrate defectsin cell growth and invasion. These results suggest thatAF086453 may play an important role in prostate cancerdevelopment and may act as a useful diagnostic markerfor prostate cancer detection in humans