BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common tumors, the causes of which remain unclear. Recently, many kinds of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified to have an important role in the biological function of CRC. However, the effect of lncRNA zinc finger antisense 1 (ZFAS1) on development of CRC is still incompletely clear.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Firstly, the expression of ZFAS1 and microRNA (miR)-7-5p in 40 CRC tissues and adjacent tissues was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Then, we detected the cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis in CRC cell lines by using Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, colony formation assay, flow analysis, and Transwell assay, respectively. Then, the relationship between ZFAS1 and miR-7-5p was verified by luciferase reporter assay. Finally, rescue experiments were conducted to confirmed that interaction of ZFAS1 and miR-7-5p in vitro.

RESULTS: Our results showed that ZFAS1 was upregulated in CRC tissues, correlated with overall survival rates, and negatively related to the expression of miR-7-5p. It was verified that miR-7-5p was a direct target of ZFAS1 by bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay. In addition, knockdown of miR-7-5p inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion, and promoted apoptosis in CRC cell lines, which could be rescue by miR-7-5p inhibitor.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that ZFAS1 directly targeted miR-7-5p, and knockdown of it could inhibit tumor growth, migration, invasion, and induce apoptosis in CRC. These data might provide a potent treatment mechanism or promising biomarker for CRC.

Keywords: Colorectal Neoplasms, RNA, Messenger