Ferroptosis-Related LncRNA BCRP3 Promotes the Proliferation and Migration of Prostate Cancer

Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are reported that play an important role in regulating tumorigenesis. This study aims to develop a ferroptosis-related lncRNA gene signature for predicting biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer (PCa) and prove a functional lncRNA BCRP3 as a promotor toward PCa progression.

Methods: The ferroptosis-related lncRNA were identified by interoperating the databases of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and FerrDb. A predictive model for biochemical recurrence of PCa was established based on the LASSO Cox regression. Kaplan–Meier cures were applied in the measurement of the impact on patients’ survival caused by key lncRNAs. Meanwhile, the molecular assays of CCK8, EdU, wound healing, and Transwell were conducted to evaluate the tumor-suppressive effect of BCRP3 in vitro.

Results: This study presented that 17 differentially expressed ferroptosis-related lncRNAs were confirmed and further screened out 9 key lncRNAs for the establishment of risk model. The nomogram involved the risk model was also proved with an excellent predictive performance toward 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival with the area of curves (AUC) as 0.77, 0.79, and 0.65 separately. Notably, the lncRNA BCRP3 was significantly correlated with the survival of PCa patients based on multivariate Cox regression. Additionally, downregulation of BCRP3 effectively inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of PC3 cells which further proved its anti-tumor function.

Conclusion: We developed a ferroptosis-related lncRNA risk model for predicting biochemical recurrence, which assisting in the clinical therapy of patients with PCa.