The long non-coding RNA PANDAR regulates cell proliferation and epithelial- to-mesenchymal transition in glioma

Glioma is one of the most aggressive intracranial tumors in the central nervous system. The long non-coding RNA P21-associated ncRNA DNA damage activated (PANDAR) has been reported to be an oncogene or tumor suppressor in several cancers. However, the prognostic value and biological function of PANDAR in glioma have not been described. Here, we report that expression of PANDAR is significantly up -regulated in glioma tissues and cell lines. PANDAR expression was correlated with tumor size (p=0.044) and World Health Organization (WHO) grades (p=0.005), as shown by chi-squared test. Moreover, significant upregulation of PANDAR was found to correlate with poor prognosis in glioma, as shown using Kaplan-Meier method and Cox multivariate survival analysis. Furthermore, PANDAR knockdown suppressed cell proliferation, G1/S transition, migration and invasion, and promoted apoptosis in glioma cell lines (U251 and U87). PANDAR knockdown decreased expression of CDK4, Bcl-2, N-cadherin and Vimentin, but increased E-cadherin expression in glioma cells. In conclusion, our data suggest PANDAR as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic candidate for glioma.