H19 is a 2.3 kb intergenic and maternally-expressed lncRNA located on chromosome 11p15.5, which is also one of the first identified imprinting lncRNA
[21][22][28][45]. H19 includes five exons and four introns, and plays an important role in embryonic and tumor development
[28][45][46]. H19 is reported to be associated with multiple cancers such as LC, GC, CRC, pancreatic cancer (PC), ovarian cancer (OC), neuroblastoma (NB), and bladder cancer
[28][47].
Studies have revealed that the expression of H19 is significantly increased in LC tissues when compared with that in adjacent tissues
[21][48]. H19 overexpression is associated with carcinogenesis from early stages to metastasis, reduced disease-free survival (DFS) time, and poor prognosis in LC
[25][22][28][49]. Plasma level of H19 is also significantly increased in NSCLC patients, which could be a clinical serological biomarker for complementary diagnosis of NSCLC
[50]. In the Chinese population, it has been reported that H19 rs2107425 is significantly related to LC susceptibility
[51], and H19 SNP rs217727 is strongly associated with susceptibility to LSCC and LAD
[51]. Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to evaluate that higher expressions of H19 and miR-21 are correlated with shorter OS in NSCLC patients, suggesting that H19 and miR-21 together may be involved in the development of LC
[52].
H19 plays an important role in promoting cell proliferation and differentiation, cell migration and invasion, and EMT
[21]. Zhou et al. reported that knockout of H19 obviously inhibits the proliferation of LC cells in vitro and in vivo
[52]. Zhao et al. indicated that the overexpression of H19 sponged and inhibited miR-200a function to upregulate zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) and zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2), thereby promoting proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT in LC
[21]. It has been demonstrated that upregulation of H19 can induce cell proliferation, invasion, and EMT occurrence by acting as an miRNA sponge and regulating miRNA-203-mediated EMT
[48]. Additionally, H19 can induce cell proliferation by promoting the expression of pro-oncogene lin-28 homolog B (LIN28B) via the inhibition of miR-196b expression in A549 and H1299 LC cell lines
[53]. H19 can also compete with miR-107 to bind neurofibromin 1 (NF1), which stimulates the development of NSCLC
[23][54]. Additionally, H19/miR-29b-3p/signal transducer and activator of the transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway is also considered to be involved in cell proliferation, viability, apoptosis, and EMT of LAD Calu-3 and NCI-H1975 cell lines
[55]. H19 also promotes NSCLC metastasis by activating some cellular signaling pathway proteins, including metastasis associated in colon cancer 1 (MACC1), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), β-catenin, and extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2)
[46]. Overexpression of H19 promotes cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by upregulating the expression of EMT markers, including snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (SNAI1), N-cadherin, and Vimentin
[23][45][46][48][56]. Moreover, upregulation of H19 can induce A549 cells resistance to DDP
[56][57]. SNP rs2107425 in H19 is also reported to be associated with resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy in SCLC
[51]. Oncogene c-Myc has been shown to be associated with H19 regulation in NSCLC
[58]. c-Myc induces H19 expression and then downregulates miR-107 to promote mitotic progression of the NSCLC cell line
[58]. The in vivo and in vitro experiments revealed that c-Myc can bind to the promoter of H19 and then activate its transcription
[59]. Collectively, activation of H19 promotes the progression of LC and it could also serve as a serological biomarker in diagnosing LC. Further studies might concentrate on the role in cancer stemness. Particularly, how to repress the expression of H19 in LC tissues represents a novel strategy for treating LC.