Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of long non-coding RNA urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 (lncRNA UCA1) silencing on cell proliferation and invasion of human hepatic cancer HepG2 cells, and its mechanism thereof. Methods The expression of lncRNA UCA1 was analyzed by real-time PCR in 20 tumor tissue and 20 adjacent non-tumor tissue samples of hepatic cancer. HepG2 cells was cultured in vitro, and lncRNA UCA1 specific short hairpin RNA (shRNA1 and shRNA2) was transfected. CCK-8 assay, Transwell assay and Wound-healing assay were used to detect the effect of lncRNA UCA1 silencing on cell proliferation, invasion and migration of HepG2 cells. The effect of lncRNA UCA1 silencing on protein and mRNA expression of Cyclin D1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)- 9, focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and Integrin β3 on lncRNA UCA1 silencing was measured by real-time PCR and Western blot assay. Results The expression of LncRNA UCA1 was higher in hepatic cancer tissues. The silencing of lncRNA UCA1 significantly inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells, and the abilities of cell invasion and migration were downregulated. Western blot assay and real-time PCR showed that expressions of Cyclin D1, VEGF, MMP-9, FAK and Integrin β3 were significantly inhibited. Conclusion The results suggest that the abnormal expression of lncRNA UCA1 is associated with the development of human hepatic cancer. The silencing of lncRNA UCA1 could suppress the cell proliferation, invasion and migration of hepatic carcinoma cells

Key words: liver neoplasms, cell proliferation, neoplasm invasiveness, neoplasm metastasis, lncRNA, urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 (UCA1)