LncRNA ATB promotes the proliferation and metastasis of lung cancer via activation of the p38 signaling pathway

Long non-coding RNA(lncRNA) activated by TGF-β (ATB) has been reported to be widely expressed in different types of cancer; however, the function of ATB in lung cancerremains unclear. In order to elucidate the role of ATB in lung cancer, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the expression of ATB in tumor tissues and corresponding non-tumor lung tissues from 32 patients with lung cancer. Furthermore, the association between the expression of ATB and clinical characteristics was investigated. Cell proliferation was assessed using a cell counting kit-8 assay and cell migration was assessed using a wound healing assays. Epithelial-mesenchymal-transitionand mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway activity was examined using western blotting. It was demonstrated that ATB was highly expressed in lung cancertissues compared with noncancerous tissues, and associated with tumor size and metastasis. It was also demonstrated that ATB was highly expressed in the lung cancercell lines, A549 and HCC827, compared with the HBE-1 cell line. Suppression of ATB significantly inhibited the proliferation and migratory rate of lung cancercells. The protein expression levels of p38, E-cadherin and N-cadherin were altered by suppression of ATB expression. Overall, the present study demonstrated that ATB may promote the development of lung cancer.