Abstract:

Objective Triple negative breast cancer（TNBC）is an aggressive cancer without effective therapeutic targets. Long non⁃coding RNA（lncRNA）has been shown to play an important role in the development of TNBC. This study is intended to investigate the effects of lncRNA SPINT1⁃AS1 on the proliferation and apoptosis of TNBC cells and find a potential therapeutic target for TNBC. Methods The relative expression of SPINT1⁃AS1 in normal breast epithelial cell lines and TNBC cell lines was detected by real⁃time quantitative PCR（qRT⁃PCR）. The cell localization of SPINT1⁃AS1 was detected by RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization. Overexpressed and down⁃regulated SPINT1⁃AS1 of TNBC cell lines were constructed respectively，and the proliferation and apoptosis of TNBC were explored by clone formation assay，CCK⁃8 assay and flow cytometry. Results SPINT1⁃AS1 was expressed mainly in the cytoplasm. The expression of SPINT1⁃AS1 in the TNBC cells was significantly lower than that in normal breast epithelial cells（P < 0.05）. SPINT1⁃AS1 downregulated the proliferation of TNBC cells in a significant way（P < 0.05），and promoted their apoptosis（P < 0.05）. Conclusion SPINT1⁃AS1 is expressed at a lower level in the cytoplasm of TNBC cells. It can suppress the proliferation of TNBC cells and induce their apopto⁃ sis，which indicates that it can be a potential therapeutic target for treating TNBC. 

Key words:  , SPINT1?AS1； , triple negative breast cancer； , proliferation； , apoptosis