Up-regulated expression of lncRNA NEAT1 promotes progression of osteosarcoma by regulating the activity of Wnt/β-catenin pathway

Background: Accumulating evidence showed that lncRNA NEAT1 play an important role in various tumors. However, the expression and function of NEAT1 on osteosarcoma (OS) have not been studied extensively. Methods: The relative expression level of NEAT1 was determined by qRT-PCR in a total of 37 patients with OS. We inhibited NEAT1 expression by transfecting NEAT1 specific siRNA (si-NEAT1). Cell proliferation was determined by using both CCK-8 assay and EdU assay. Cell migration was determined by using Scratch assay. Cell invasion was determined by Transwell invasion assay. Western blot was used to investigate the activity of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in siNEAT1 transfected OS cells. Results: We first reported that NEAT1 was consistently up-regulated in OS tissues, and the expression levels of NEAT1 were associated with clinical stage and distant metastasis. Kaplan-Meier analysis suggested that patients with high NEAT1 expression had poorer overall survival in OS patients. Silencing NEAT1 significantly inhibited OS cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Moreover, we found that decreased expression of NEAT1 inhibited the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway activity. Conclusion: Our study suggested that NEAT1 could act as an oncogene in OS progression.