In the current study, the function of
long noncoding RNA (
LncRNA) RAB5IF was elucidated in
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCCs) in association with LGR5 related signaling. Here TCGA analysis revealed that
LncRNA RAB5IF was overexpressed in HCC, and its overexpression level was significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with poor prognosis in patients with HCC. Furthermore,
LncRNA RAB5IF depletion suppressed cell proliferation and colony formation, increased sub G1 population, cleavage of
poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) and
cysteine aspartyl-specific
protease (
caspase 3) and attenuated the expression of
procaspase 3, pro-PARP and
B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) in HepG2 and Hep3B cells. Furthermore,
LncRNA RAB5IF depletion reduced the expression of LGR5 and its downstreams such as β-
catenin and c-Myc in HepG2 and Hep3B cells. Notably, LGR5 depletion also attenuated the expression of pro-PARP, pro-caspase3, β-
catenin and c-Myc in HepG2 and Hep3B cells. Conversely, LGR5 overexpression upregulated β-
catenin and c-Myc in Alpha Mouse Liver 12 (AML-12) normal hepatocytes. Overall, these findings provide novel evidence that
LncRNA RAB5IF promotes the growth of
hepatocellular carcinoma cells via LGR5 mediated β-
catenin and c-Myc signaling as a potent oncogenic target.