Induction of long intergenic non-coding RNA HOTAIR in lung cancer cells by type I collagen

The tumor microenvironment is a crucial determinant in tumor progression. Interstitial extracellular matrix (ECM), such as type I collagen (Col-1), is aberrantly enriched in the tumor microenvironment and promotes tumor progression. Long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNA) are a new family of regulatory RNAs that modulate fundamental cellular processes via diverse mechanisms.

Researchers at Tulane University School of Medicine investigated whether the expression of lincRNAs was regulated by the tumor promoting Col-1. In a three-dimensional organotypic culture model using the reconstituted basement membrane ECM Matrigel (rBM 3-D), supplementation of Col-1 disrupted acini, a differentiation feature of well-differentiated lung adenocarcinoma cells, and concurrently induced the expression of a tumor-promoting lincRNA, HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR). Induction of HOTAIR by Col-1 was diminished by a neutralizing antibody against the Col-1 receptor alpha2beta1 integrin. Col-1 activates the expression of a reporter gene controlled by the human HOTAIR promoter. Moreover the expression of HOTAIR and Col-1 was concurrently up-regulated in human non-small cell lung cancer.

These findings indicate that tumor-promoting Col-1 up-regulates the expression of HOTAIR in NSCLC cells. These initial results warrant further investigation of HOTAIR and other lincRNA genes in lung tumorigenesis.

• Zhuang Y, Wang X, Nguyen HT, Zhuo Y, Cui X, Fewell C, Flemington EK, Shan B. (2013) Induction of long intergenic non-coding RNA HOTAIR in lung cancer cells by type I collagen. J Hematol Oncol 6(1), 35. [Epub ahead of print]. [article]