Purpose: The aim of this paper was to investigate H19  expression in gastric cancer (GC) and its effects on the biological behavior of gastric cancer cells (GCCs), and at exploring its potential mechanism.
Methods: H19  expression in the patients’ tissues and serum was detected, and the correlation of the expression with the patients’ pathological data and survival rate was analyzed. Overexpression or inhibitory vectors of H19 , microRNA-138  (miR-138 ) and E2F2  were constructed and transfected into GCCs to observe their effects on the cells’ proliferation, invasion and apoptosis.
Results: H19  rose in GC and was higher in GC patients with a tumor size ≥ 5 cm, high stages (III+IV) and lymph node metastasis. High H19 expression was associated with the poorer survival rate of the patients, so serum H19  had a certain diagnostic value for GC. H19  knockdown could inhibit GCCs to proliferate and invade and induce their apoptosis. miR-138  can be used as the target gene of H19 , and E2F2  can be negatively regulated by this miR, so miR-138  knockdown or E2F2  upregulation can weaken GCCs’ biological behavior changes that were caused by H19 knockdown.
Conclusion: H19  can be used as a biological indicator for diagnosing GC and predicting patients’ poor prognosis. Additionally, it promotes GCCs to proliferate and invade through miR-138 /E2F2  axis.
Keywords: H19 , miR-138 , E2F2 , gastric cancer