Numerous studies have demonstrated that lncRNA serves both carcinogenic and anticancer functions in PCa and can be a diagnostic tool for identifying PCa (Mitobe et al. 2018). Such as lncRNA MNX1-AS1 contributes to the advancement of PCa (Liang et al. 2022). MAGI2-AS3 functions as a suppressor in the progression of PCa (Hu et al. 2022). MALAT1 modulates cancerous glucose metabolism in PCa (Mu et al. 2022).

Studies have found that LIMD1-AS1 contributes to the advancement of glioma (Chen et al. 2023) but inhibits non-small cell lung cancer progression (Pan et al. 2020). The findings suggest that LIMD1-AS1 functions not only as a tumor suppressor but also as a proto-oncogene. Numerous other genes exhibit this bifurcated pattern. Such as TP53TG1 enhances the proliferation and invasive capacity of hepatocellular carcinoma cells (Lu et al. 2021), but serves a tumor-suppressive function in gastric cancer (Fang et al. 2022).

Our investigation revealed an elevated expression of LIMD1-AS1 in PCa, suggesting a role for LIMD1-AS1 in promoting the advancement of PCa. Furthermore, the elevated LIMD1-AS1 expression exhibited potential diagnostic significance in PCa. Additionally, we investigated the impact of LIMD1-AS1 expression on the survival outcomes of PCa patients. The results showed that elevated levels of LIMD1-AS1 were associated with a shortened survival rate in these patients. This evidence suggested that LIMD1-AS1 was differently expressed in PCa and was clinically important to patients.

Multiple microRNAs are also implicated in the progression of PCa. Subhayan Sur et al. proved that miR-29b emerges as a potential therapeutic target for PCa treatment (Sur et al. 2019). The oncogenic effects of miR-345-5p suggest it as a promising therapeutic target for PCa (Tinay et al. 2018). A previous investigation revealed a decrease in miR-29c-3p expression within PCa tumor specimens (Li et al. 2022). Our investigation demonstrated that reduced expression of miR-29c-3p is observed in both tumor tissues and serum from PCa patients, this was consistent with previous findings (Li et al. 2022).

Substantial evidence suggests that lncRNAs could potentially function by competitively binding to miRNAs. TUC338 might act as a proto-oncogenic lncRNA in PCa by inhibiting miR-466 expression (Li et al. 2019). The lncRNA SNHG3 acts as a molecular absorbent for miR-577, leading to the upregulation of SMURF1 expression in PCa cells (Li et al. 2020). SNHG20 promotes the migration and invasion of PCa cells by modulating the miR-6516-5p/SCGB2A1 axis (Wu et al. 2019).Our cellular experiments corroborated that LIMD1-AS1 may specifically bind to and modulate the miR-29c-3p expression, thereby influencing cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis. Suppression of miR-29c-3p reversed the suppressive effects of LIMD1-AS1 silencing on cellular proliferation, migration, and invasion, while also counteracting the enhanced apoptosis observed in these cells. The findings indicated that LIMD1-AS1 modulates the progression of PCa through the regulation of miR-29c-3p.

Previous studies have shown that lncRNAs influence PCa progression through multiple mechanisms. For example, the lncRNA DANCR promotes paclitaxel resistance in PCa cells (Wang and Chen 2022). PCAT14 could facilitate the progression of PCa by regulating the infiltration of immune cells through its effects on chemokines, antimicrobials, and cytokines (Yan et al. 2021). lncRNA SNHG7 facilitates the glycolytic process in PCa (Liu et al. 2022). Therefore, LIMD1-AS1 may affect PCa progression through other mechanisms, which is worth exploring in our future studies.

In conclusion, this study investigated the aberrant expression and the clinical significance of LIMD1-AS1 in PCa. Moreover, our study revealed that LIMD1-AS1 may promote PCa progression by regulating miR-29c-3p. However, the sample size included in this study may not have been large enough and more data may be needed to confirm the findings of this experiment. In addition, LIMD1-AS1 may also participate in the progression of PCa by regulating other miRNAs, which also needs more experiments to prove.