The 2/3 PH in C57BL/6 mice caused a decrease in Axin1 expression that was detectable at 12 hours, lowest between 24 and 36 hours, and began to return at 48 hours after surgery (Fig. S8A,B). The expression changes in Axin1 suggest that Axin1 might be inhibited by lncRNA-LALR1 during liver regeneration. Taken together, these data showed that lncRNA-LALR1 activated the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in hepatocytes. LncRNA-LALR1 decreased the expression of Axin1, and the stability of the β-catenin destruction complex receded, which led to the decline in the levels of phosphorylated β-catenin (inactive); active β-catenin could no longer AG-014699 chemical structure stay bound and was released. This monomeric form

of β-catenin binds to proteins such as T-cell factor-4 (TCF-4) and lymphoid enhancement factor (LEF) and translocates to the nucleus to control the transcription of target genes, including c-myc and cyclin D1. Finally, lncRNA-LALR1 facilitated mouse cell cycle progression and hepatocyte proliferation (Fig. 7). We wondered whether the mechanism of lncRNA-LALR1 activates the Wnt/β-catenin pathway by suppressing Axin1. We performed a computational screen (http://jaspar.genereg.net; Staurosporine CTCFBSDB2.0[19]) and found a CTCF binding site within the AXIN1 promoter region (−1,892 bp upstream of the transcription start site of AXIN1). Recent studies have reported

that the transcription factor CTCF can bind to the promoter region of target genes and inhibit their expression.[20] There was no significant difference in the CTCF mRNA and protein levels in lncRNA-LALR1-up-regulated CCL-9.1 cells compared to those in the control cells (data not shown). To determine whether lncRNA-LALR1 could change the binding of CTCF to the AXIN1 promoter region, medchemexpress we performed ChIP analysis in lncRNA-LALR1-up-regulated CCL-9.1 cells and lncRNA-LALR1-down-regulated BNL CL.2 cells. We observed that overexpression of lncRNA-LALR1 increased the binding of CTCF at the AXIN1 promoter region in CCL-9.1 cells, and the binding declined in lncRNA-LALR1-down-regulated BNL CL.2 cells (Fig. 8A). These results confirmed that lncRNA-LALR1 could increase the binding of CTCF to the AXIN1 promoter region in hepatocytes. In addition, we

tested whether lncRNA-LALR1 could associate with CTCF. We performed RIP with an antibody against CTCF from extracts of BNL CL.2 cells and CCL-9.1 cells. We observed significant enrichment of lncRNA-LALR1 with the CTCF antibody compared with the nonspecific IgG control antibody (Fig. 8B). Next, we performed an in vitro RNA pulldown to validate the association between lncRNA-LALR1 and CTCF in BNL CL.2 cells and CCL-9.1 cells. This analysis confirmed that lncRNA-LALR1 physically associated with CTCF in vitro (Fig. 8C). Together, the RIP and RNA pulldown results demonstrate a specific association between CTCF and lncRNA-LALR1. The expression level of Axin1 was not statistically different in lncRNA-LALR1-down-regulated BNL CL.2 cells and lncRNA-LALR1-up-regulated CCL-9.