Long non-coding RNA lnc-GNAT1-1 inhibits gastric cancer cell proliferation and invasion through the Wnt/-catenin pathway in Helicobacter pylori infection

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of long non-coding (lnc)-G protein subunit transducin 1 (GNAT1)-1 in gastric cancer cells infected with Helicobacter (H.) pylori. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to assess lnc-GNAT1-1 expression in normal gastric and gastric cancer cells infected with H. pylori. The overexpression of lnc-GNAT1-1 in SGC-7901 and MNK45 cells was induced by transfection. Migration and invasion assays were performed in transfected gastric cancer cells to evaluate the effect of lnc-GNAT1-1. Histological and western blot analyses were used to determine the alterations in the Wnt/-catenin signaling pathway protein expression. Cells transfected with lnc-GNAT1-1 were used to initiate gastric cancer tumor xenografts to compare tumor growth in mice inoculated with untransfected cells. The results revealed that H. pylori infection significantly downregulated lnc-GNAT-1 expression. Lnc-GNAT1-1 overexpression inhibited gastric cancer cell migration and invasion. Wnt/-catenin pathway protein expression was decreased by lnc-GNAT1-1 overexpression. In addition, lnc-GNAT1-1 overexpression reduced tumor growth. Thus, lnc-GNAT1-1 is downregulated in gastric cancer infected with H. pylori and lnc-GNAT1-1 overexpression inhibited gastric cancer growth through the Wnt/-catenin signaling pathway.