Mechanistically, SNHG6 induced EMT of BC cells by upregulating the expression levels of Snail1/2 and regulated BC cell migration and invasion by tumor suppressive hsa-miR-125b and its target gene NUAK Family Kinase 1 (NUAK1).
The expression of NUAK1 was also strongly associated with OS (p = 0.044) and DFS (p = 0.007) in patients of late stage tumour (UICC3-5), but not in patients of early stage tumour (UICC1-2).
AMPK-related kinase 5 (ARK5) is a member of the human AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) family, which is associated with increased tumor survival and drug resistance in many cancers.
Our results showed that the high expression of ARK5 in HCC was related to tumor size (p=0.005), histological differentiation (p=0.047), and tumor stage (p=0.005).
These findings have highlighted a novel role for NUAK1 in LKB1-related signaling pathways; NUAK1 can regulate cell proliferation and exert tumor suppression through direct interaction with p53.