Upregulation of the long noncoding RNA TUG1 promotes proliferation and migration of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the prevalent and deadly cancers worldwide, especially in Eastern Asia. The prognosis of ESCC remains poor; thus, it is still necessary to further dissect the underlying mechanisms and explore therapeutic targets of ESCC. Recent studies show that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have critical roles in diverse biological processes, including tumorigenesis. Some lncRNAs, such as HOTAIR and POU3F3, were reported to play important roles in ESCC. Here, we characterized the expression profile of taurine-upregulated gene 1 (TUG1), a lncRNA recruiting and binding to polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), in ESCC. In a cohort of 62 patients, TUG1 was significantly overexpressed in ESCC tissues compared with paired adjacent normal tissues, and high expression level of TUG1 was associated with family history and upper segment of esophageal cancer (p < 0.05). Further, in vitro silencing TUG1 via siRNA inhibited the proliferation and migration of ESCC cells and blocked the progression of cell cycle. Therefore, our study indicates that TUG1 promotes proliferation and migration of ESCC cells and is a potential oncogene of ESCC.