Open Access

ARTICLE

lncRNA NORAD Contributes to Colorectal Cancer Progression by Inhibition of miR-202-5p

Jie Zhang^*, Xiao-Yan Li^*, Ping Hu^†, Yuan-Sheng Ding^*

* The First Department of General Surgery, Linyi Central Hospital, Linyi, Shandong Province, P.R. China
† The First Department of Endocrinology, Linyi Central Hospital, Linyi, Shandong Province, P.R. China

Oncology Research 2018, 26(9), 1411-1418. https://doi.org/10.3727/096504018X15190844870055

Abstract

Previous study indicates that long noncoding RNA NORAD could serve as a competing endogenous RNA to pancreatic cancer metastasis. However, its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) needs to be investigated. In the present study, we found that the expression of NORAD was significantly upregulated in CRC tissues. Furthermore, the expression of NORAD was positively related with CRC metastasis and patients’ poor prognosis. Knockdown of NORAD markedly inhibited CRC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion but induced cell apoptosis in vitro. In vivo experiments also indicated an inhibitory effect of NORAD on tumor growth. Mechanistically, we found that NORAD served as a competing endogenous RNA for miR-202-5p. We found that there was an inverse relationship between the expression of NORAD and miR-202-5p in CRC tissues. Moreover, overexpression of miR-202-5p in SW480 and HCT116 cells significantly inhibited cellular proliferation, migration, and invasion. Taken together, our study demonstrated that the NORAD/miR-202-5p axis plays a pivotal function on CRC progression.

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