Genetic variant in <i>LncRNA-NKILA</i> associated with gastric cancer susceptibility and the binding with <i>miR-6731-5p</i>

This study aims to assess the association between lncRNA-<i>NKILA</i> single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and susceptibility to gastric cancer in the Chinese Han population. Four functional SNPs (rs911157, rs16981280, rs2273534, and rs957313) were validated using bioinformatics analysis and genotyped in 490 patients and 490 controls. A case–control study was conducted to analyze the association between NKILA SNPs and gastric cancer risk. qRT-PCR was conducted to detect the NKILA expression in plasma of different rs911157 and rs16981280 genotypes. The effect of rs16981280 C&gt;T mutation on the binding ability of NKILA and miR-6731-5p was verified by dual-luciferase experiment. In this study, rs911157 CT genotype (<i>OR</i>:1.72, <i>95%CI</i>:1.20–2.69) was associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer, whereas rs16981280 CG (<i>OR</i>:0.64, <i>95%CI</i>:0.48–0.85) and GG genotypes (<i>OR</i>:0.56, <i>95%CI</i>:0.36–0.87) were associated with a reduced risk. The population attributable risk percentage for rs911157 T-carriers was below 10%, while for the rs16981280 CC genotype was approximately 15%. Rs911157 C carried a binding site with <i>miR-6731-5p</i> while T allele might cause the target loss. In summary, <i>NKILA</i> polymorphism might be related to the susceptibility of gastric cancer. <i>NKILA</i> rs911157 C/T genotype probably affects the function of gastric cancer cells by modulating the interactions with of <i>miR-6731-5p</i>.