Purpose: Although the roles of lncRNA FOXD2-AS1 have been investigated in many types of cancers including colorectal cancer (CRC), its functionality remains to be further investigated. Analysis of the TCGA data set revealed that FOXD2-AS1 was up-regulated in CRC tissues. This study aimed to analyze the function of FOXD2-AS1 in CRC.
Methods: FOXD2-AS1 expression was detected by qPCR. A 5-year follow-up study was performed to analyze the prognostic value of FOXD2-AS1 for CRC. Overexpression experiments were performed to analyze the interactions among FOXD2-AS1, miR-25-3p and Sema4C. Transwell assays were performed to analyze cell invasion and migration.
Results: In this study, we further confirmed the up-regulation of FOXD2-AS1 in CRC patients and showed that high FOXD2-AS1 level predicted poor survival. Bioinformatics analysis showed that miR-25-3p may bind FOXD2-AS1, while over-expression experiments showed no effects on each other’s expression. Instead, FOXD2-AS1 over-expression led to the up-regulate Sema4C, which is a target of miR-25-3p. Transwell assay showed that FOXD2-AS1 and Sema4C over-expression led to the increased invasion and migration rates of CRC cells. MiR-25-3p plays the opposite role and attenuated the effects of FOXD2-AS1 and Sema4C over-expression.
Conclusion: FOXD2-AS1 may regulate the miR-25-3p/Sema4C axis to promote the invasion and migration of CRC cells.
Keywords: colorectal cancer, FOXD2-AS1, miR-25-3p, Sema4C, survival