Knockdown of LRP11-AS1 inhibits papillary thyroid tumor growth by modulating miR-615-3p/AKT2 axis

Patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) who experience local recurrence and distant metastases have a poor clinical prognosis and low survival rate. In this study, the expression of LRP11-AS1 was evaluated in both tissue samples from patients with papillary thyroid cancer and in PTC cell lines. We observed significant overexpression of LRP11-AS1 in both PTC tissues and PTC cell lines and inhibitory effects of LRP11-AS1 knockdown on the growth and migration of PTC cells. Mechanistically, knockdown of LRP11-AS1 led to upregulation of miR-615-3p, overexpression of miR-615-3p decreased the expression of both LRP11-AS1 and AKT2. The dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed the inhibitory effect of miR-615-3p on the expression of LRP11-AS1 and AKT2. Knockdown of LRP11-AS1 inhibited in vivo growth of PTC tumor in nude mice model. LRP11-AS1 exhibited potential oncogenic effects in PTC by regulating the miR-615-3p/AKT2 axis, suggesting that LRP11-AS1 could serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target in PTC.