Hypoxia has been reported to be a critical microenvironmental factor that induces
cancer metastasis and proliferation in gastric, liver and
hepatic cancers; however, the underlying mechanisms of this are largely unknown. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as crucial factors of several aspects of
tumor malignancy, including
tumorigenesis,
metastasis and chemoresistance. However, the potential association of lncRNAs with
hypoxia-induced
cancer malignancy remains to be determined. In the present study, the differential expression of lncRNAs following the induction of
hypoxia in A549
lung adenocarcinoma cells was analyzed reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. It was identified that the
lncRNA metastasis-associated
lung adenocarcinoma transcript-1 (MALAT-1) was upregulated significantly by
hypoxia in A549 cells. By considering its promotive effects on malignant
tumor behaviors, in the present study, it was identified that upregulated MALAT-1 released the binding of
PTB-associated splicing factor (PSF) to its target gene, GAGE6, and thus promoted proliferation, migration and invasion of A549 cells following
hypoxia exposure. These results advance the overall understanding of the mechanism of
hypoxia-induced
lung cancer metastasis and may assist in the development of novel
therapeutics.