Identification of mRNAsi-related lncRNAs. PC3-CSCs were isolated and cultured under serum-free conditions. (A) Sphere formation, characteristic of CSCs, was visualized by microscopy. (B,C) Changes in protein (B) and mRNA (C) expression levels of stemness markers CD133, KLF4, NANOG and OCT4 were examined by western blot and RT-qPCR analyses, respectively. (D–F) mRNA expression of five candidate genes in normal PC epithelial cells and tumor cells was examined by qPCR. (G,H) mRNA expression of MBNL1-AS1 in PCSCs was examined by qPCR. (I) Survival analysis demonstrating the prognostic value of MBNL1-AS1 in the TGCA-PRAD dataset. (J) Correlation analysis showing the correlation between MBNL1-AS1 expression and clinical characteristics. * p-value < 0.05; ** p-value < 0.01; *** p-value < 0.001; # p > 0.05, respectively.