UCA1 functions as a competing endogenous RNA to suppress epithelial ovarian cancer metastasis.

Urothelial cancer associated 1 (UCA1) is an example of functional long noncoding RNAs involved in many biologic processes. However, little is known about the association between UCA1 expression and metastasis in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Findings of this study confirmed that not only UCA1 was aberrantly upregulated in EOC tissues and cells, but also correlated with status of lymph node metastasis and FIGO stage. Furthermore, univariate and multivariate analyses showed that UCA1 was a prognostic factor for overall survival in EOC patients. In vitro, knockdown of UCA1 reduced the invasion and migration ability of EOC cells. The results showed that UCA1 could function as an endogenous sponge by directly binding to miR-485-5p. Depletion of UCA1 was involved in the downregulation of matrix metallopeptidase 14 (MMP14) expression, a target gene of miR-485-5p. In conclusion, our work indicates that UCA1 is a new prognostic biomarker for EOC, establishing a novel connection among UCA1, miR-485-5p, and MMP14 in EOC metastasis.