Pituitary adenoma (PA) is one of the common intracranial tumors. In order to optimize status quo, seeking out potential biomarkers for pituitary adenoma diagnosis and treatment is urgent and important. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been related with progression of various cancers. Based on this reason and unknown role of long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 1116 (LINC01116) in pituitary adenoma, we aimed to explore the function and molecular mechanism of LINC01116 in pituitary adenoma. The RT-qPCR analysis showed that LINC01116 was abnormally overexpressed in pituitary adenoma cells. Down-regulated LINC01116 effectively suppressed cell proliferation and migration as well as epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) progression in pituitary adenoma. Additionally, LINC01116 could competitively sponge miR-744–5p as shown by RIP, RNA pull down and luciferase reporter assays. Similarly, we also proved that homeobox B8 (HOXB8) was the target gene of miR-744–5p in pituitary adenoma cells. In the end, the rescue assays unmasked that HOXB8 could effectually reverse inhibition effect of LINC016 knockdown on pituitary adenoma cells proliferation, migration and EMT, further suggesting that LINC01116 expedited the pituitary adenoma progression by up-regulating HOXB8. Taken together, LINC01116 boosted the progression of pituitary adenoma cells via regulating miR-744–5p/HOXB8 pathway.

垂体腺瘤（PA）是颅内常见的肿瘤之一。为了优化现状，寻找潜在的垂体腺瘤诊断和治疗的生物标志物迫在眉睫。长链非编码 RNA (lncRNA) 与各种癌症的进展有关。基于这一原因以及长基因间非蛋白编码 RNA 1116 (LINC01116) 在垂体腺瘤中的作用未知，我们旨在探索 LINC01116 在垂体腺瘤中的功能和分子机制。RT-qPCR 分析显示 LINC01116 在垂体腺瘤细胞中异常过表达。下调的 LINC01116 有效抑制垂体腺瘤中的细胞增殖和迁移以及上皮-间质转化 (EMT) 进展。此外，如 RIP 所示，LINC01116 可以竞争性海绵 miR-744-5p，RNA 下拉和荧光素酶报告基因检测。同样，我们还证明了同源框B8（HOXB8）是垂体腺瘤细胞中miR-744-5p的靶基因。最后，拯救试验揭示了 HOXB8 可以有效逆转 LINC016 敲低对垂体腺瘤细胞增殖、迁移和 EMT 的抑制作用，进一步表明 LINC01116 通过上调 HOXB8 加速垂体腺瘤进展。总之，LINC01116 通过调节 miR-744–5p/HOXB8 通路促进了垂体腺瘤细胞的进展。迁移和 EMT，进一步表明 LINC01116 通过上调 HOXB8 加速垂体腺瘤进展。总之，LINC01116 通过调节 miR-744–5p/HOXB8 通路促进了垂体腺瘤细胞的进展。迁移和 EMT，进一步表明 LINC01116 通过上调 HOXB8 加速垂体腺瘤进展。总之，LINC01116 通过调节 miR-744–5p/HOXB8 通路促进了垂体腺瘤细胞的进展。