LncRNA HOXA-AS3 integrates NF-κB signaling to regulate endothelium inflammation.

The long noncoding RNA HOXA-AS3 has recently been reported to act as a critical regulator in inflammation-linked lung adenocarcinoma. However, the roles of HOXA-AS3 in endothelium inflammation and related vascular disorders remain poorly defined. In the current study, we identified HOXA-AS3 to be a critical activator to promote NE-kappa B-mediated endothelium inflammation. HOXA-AS3, a chromatin-associated regulator which colocalizes with NE-kappa B at specific gene promoters, was found to interact with NE-kappa B and positively regulate its activity through control of the expression of the NE-kappa B inhibitor protein I kappa B alpha and the acetylation status at the K310 site of p65. More importantly, clinicopathological analysis showed that HOXA-AS3 expression has a significant positive correlation with atherosclerosis. Thus, we conclude that HOXA-AS3 may serve as a crucial biomarker for the clinical diagnosis of atherosclerosis, as well as a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of multiple inflammatory vascular diseases. In addition, this study suggests the functional importance of HOXA-AS3 in the regulation of inflammatory disorders.