LINC-PINT and LincRNA-P21 play a role in the mechanism of action of hydrogen gas’s therapeutic effect on lung cancer cells

Abstract

Abstract (1) Purpose: Non-small cell Lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality globally. Hydrogen (H2) gas is a possible anticancer agent. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA), including LINC-PINT and lincRNA-P21, involves in regulating the apoptotic proteins’ expression. Therefore, our study aim was to investigate the H2 treatment effect on the LINC-PINT and lincRNA-P21's expression in NSCLC cells; (2) Methods: A549 cells were treated with three H2 gas concentrations at different times. qRT-PCR was used to assess the LINC-PINT and lincRNA-P21’s expressions. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and linear regression were carried out to analyse the differences; (3) Results: The expression of LINC-PINT was significantly correlated with the increasing (0-10%) H2 concentrations, after both 2-hour-30-minute and 3-hour hydrogen treatment (R22H30=0.52, R23H=0.57, both P<0.05). This positive relationship -between expression and H2 concentrations- was also observed for lincRNA-P21 expression after 2-hour-30-minute H2 treatment (R2=0.88, P<0.01). In contrast, the expression of LINC-PINT showed a significant negative correlation with H2 after 3-hour-40-minute (R2=0.81, P<0.01); (4) Conclusions: The expressions of LINC-PINT and lincRNA-P21 were upregulated after H2 gas treatment. Thus, it appears highly probable that the therapeutic effect of hydrogen gas is achieved by upregulating LINC-PINT and lincRNA-P21’s expressions in NSCLC cells.