LINC00624 affects hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation and apoptosis through the miR‐342‐3p/DNAJC5 axis.

LINC00624 is a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) which was seldom investigated before. The goal of our study is to clarify the expression and underlying network of LINC00624 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, both HCC and normal living cell lines were employed. Real‐time quantitative PCR and western blot were used to determine the pattern of genes and proteins. Colony formation, flow cytometry and western blot tests were used to determine cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. Dual luciferase was used to verify molecule‐molecule interactions. LINC00624 expression was increased in HCC cell lines and miR‐342‐3p was decreased. Elimination of LINC00624 increased proliferation while decreasing cell apoptosis. LINC00624 acted as a molecular sponge for miR‐342‐3p, hence facilitating DNAJC5 expression. Functional tests demonstrated that miR‐342‐3p suppression could reverse the effect of LINC00624 silence and overexpression of DNAJC5 significantly mitigated the biological consequences of miR‐342‐3p. These finding demonstrated that LINC00624 aggravated HCC progression by modulating proliferation and apoptosis via targeting miR‐342‐3p/DNAJC5 axis. These data support that inhibition of LINC00624 may a potential treatment strategies of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]