LncRNA NR2F2-AS1 Upregulates Rac1 to Increase Cancer Stemness in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Zhang et al. characterized a novel oncogenic long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) named NR2F2-AS1 in lung cancer. In this study, the role of lncRNA NR2F2-AS1 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) was explored. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> Levels of NR2F2-AS1 and Rac1 mRNA expression in both cancer and noncancer tissues from 60 patients with ccRCC were measured by performing RT-qPCR. NR2F2-AS1 siRNA silencing and overexpression experiments were performed to analyze the role of NR2F2-AS1 in regulating Rac1 expression. Cell stemness was analyzed by stemness assay. <b><i>Results:</i></b> NR2F2-AS1 was upregulated in ccRCC, and high NR2F2-AS1 expression levels in ccRCC tissues were associated with poor survival. Rac1 was also upregulated in ccRCC and positively correlated with NR2F2-AS1. In ccRCC cells, NR2F2-AS1 overexpression mediated the upregulation of Rac1, whereas NR2F2-AS1 siRNA was accompanied by Rac1 downregulation. NR2F2-AS1 and Rac1 overexpression resulted in the increased ccRCC cell stemness, whereas NR2F2-AS1 and Rac1 siRNA silencing played an opposite role. Rac1 overexpression inhibited the role of NR2F2-AS1 siRNA silencing. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> NR2F2-AS1 may upregulate Rac1 to increase cancer stemness in ccRCC.