Expression of LncRNA DLEU1 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Its Effect on Proliferation and Migration of ESCC Cells

Objective To investigate the expression of LncRNA DLEU1 in ESCC tissues, and its effect on the proliferation and migration of ESCC cells. Methods We collected 58 cases of ESCC tissues and corresponding para-cancerous tissues. RT-qPCR was used to detect the relative expression levels of DLEU1 in ESCC tissues and cells. Log-rank test was used to analyze the relation between the expression of DLEU1 and clinicopathological features. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to investigate the correlation between the expression of DLEU1 and the survival of ESCC patients. Multivariate Cox regression model was used to evaluate the effect of DLEU1 on the prognosis of ESCC patients. Effects of DLEU1 on the proliferation and migration of Eca9706 cells were evaluated by CCK-8 and wound healing assays, respectively. Results DLEU1 was highly expressed in ESCC tissues (P < 0.01) and significantly correlated with tumor size, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis (all P < 0.05). High expression of DLEU1 was negatively correlated with poor prognosis of ESCC patients (P < 0.01), and DLEU1 was also an independent prognostic risk factor (P < 0.05). Moreover, knockdown of DLEU1 significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration of Eca9706 cells, compared with the control group (P < 0.01). Conclusion DLEU1 is highly expressed in ESCC tissues. The expression of DLEU1 is an independent risk factor for the prognosis of ESCC patients and promotes ESCC cell proliferation and migration.