LncRNA BCAR4 up-regulates EGFR and thus promotes human thyrocyte proliferation

Hong-Yan Zhai, Rui-Hong Yan,  Tian-Zheng Yang, Zhen-Hu Zhou, Lei Gao, Jian Li

Abstract:

This study establishes that BCAR4 has pro-proliferative effects on normal thyroid cells. BCAR4 up-regulation promotes proliferation and suppresses apoptosis of NTHY-ORI 3-1 cells and human primary thyrocytes, and EGFR is highly expressed in BCAR4 over-expressing-cells. In contrast, BCAR4 up-regulation did not modulate cell viability or cell cycle progression when EGFR was knocked-down. Further, the phosphorylated forms of PI3K, AKT, mTOR and p70S6K were up-regulated by BCAR4 up-regulation, and the alteration in these kinases induced by BCAR4 up-regulation was abolished when EGFR was knocked-down. This study therefore revealed the pro-proliferative role of lncRNA BCAR4 in NTHY-ORI 3-1 cells and human primary thyrocytes; where BCAR4 accelerated thyroid cells proliferation by EGFR up-regulation and the modulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling. These findings indicate that targeting BCAR4 has potential in hyperthyroidism treatment.