Abstract
Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-NEF inhibits cancer metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma; however, its role in other malignancies is unknown. The present study revealed that plasma lncRNA-NEF was downregulated, while miRNA-21 was upregulated in patients with osteosarcoma compared with healthy controls. Plasma lncRNA-NEF and miRNA-21 were negatively correlated in patients with osteosarcoma and healthy controls. Downregulation of lncRNA-NEF and upregulation of miRNA-21 distinguished patients with osteosarcoma from healthy controls. lncRNA-NEF overexpression mediated the inhibition of miRNA-21 expression in osteosarcoma cell lines, while miRNA-21 overexpression did not significantly affect the expression of lncRNA-NEF. lncRNA-NEF overexpression inhibited, while miRNA-21 overexpression promoted, migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cell lines in vitro. miRNA-21 overexpression partially compensated the inhibitory effects of lncRNA-NEF overexpression on osteosarcoma cell migration and invasion. Therefore, lncRNA-NEF may inhibit cancer cell migration and invasion in osteosarcoma by downregulating miRNA-21.