Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 14, 2019; 25(14): 1697-1714
Published online Apr 14, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i14.1697
Functional role of long non-coding RNA CASC19/miR-140-5p/CEMIP axis in colorectal cancer progression in vitro
Xiao-Dong Wang, Jian Lu, Yun-Shou Lin, Chao Gao, Feng Qi
Xiao-Dong Wang, Jian Lu, Yun-Shou Lin, Chao Gao, Feng Qi, Department of General Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China
Author contributions: Qi F designed and coordinated the research; Wang XD performed the majority of experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper; Lu J, Lin YS, and Gao C contributed new reagents or analytic tools.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81570375.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital (Ethical No. IRB2015-YX-018) and was conducted in strict compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.
Data sharing statement: No additional unpublished data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Feng Qi, FRCS (Gen Surg), MD, PhD, Academic Research, Chief Doctor, Director, Doctor, Full Professor, Professor, Research Scientist, Senior Researcher, Senior Scientist, Surgeon, Surgical Oncologist, Teacher, Department of General Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, No. 154, Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin 300052, China. qf@medmail.com.cn
Telephone: +86-13752115987 Fax: +86-22-60363901
Received: January 13, 2019
Peer-review started: January 14, 2019
First decision: February 21, 2019
Revised: March 6, 2019
Accepted: March 15, 2019
Article in press: March 16, 2019
Published online: April 14, 2019
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

There is increasing evidence that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in tumor progression. The lncRNA cancer susceptibility 19 (CASC19) is highly expressed in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues, and may be associated with colon cancer progression. However, there has been no experimental evidence regarding the function of CASC19 in CRC.

Research motivation

Investigation of the functions of the lncRNA CASC19 may suggest potential molecular mechanisms of CRC carcinogenesis and progression, and may further offer the potential for future preventive and therapeutic innovations in the management of CRC.

Research objectives

We measured the lncRNA CASC19 expression in CRC tissues and pair-matched adjacent non-tumor tissues, and investigated biological functions and the possible molecular mechanisms of CASC19 in CRC.

Research methods

We detected CASC19 expression in CRC tissues and pair-matched adjacent non-tumor tissues using quantitative real-time PCR. The biological behavior of CASC19 in vitro was then assessed by overexpression and knockdown of the expression of CASC19. In further molecular mechanism studies, we confirmed the possible molecular mechanisms by which CASC19 plays a role by overexpression and knockdown of the expression of downstream molecules of CASC19.

Research results

The lncRNA CASC19 was upregulated in CRC tissue, which was related to tumor stage and metastasis. The lncRNA CASC19 had a role of promoting proliferation, metastasizing ability, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and inhibiting apoptosis by regulating microRNA 140-5p/cell migration inducing hyaluronidase 1 (miR-140-5p/CEMIP) expression in CRC cells.

Research conclusions

The lncRNA CASC 19 is overexpressed in CRC tissues and cell lines, which could promote CRC progression through regulating miR-140-5p/CEMIP.

Research perspectives

Members of the CASC19/miR-140-5p/CEMIP axis may serve as useful targets for future preventive and therapeutic innovations in the management of CRC.