Knockdown of long noncoding RNA linc-ITGB1 inhibits tumor metastasis in colorectal cancer through suppressing BDNF.

Abstract

Recently, long noncoding RNA (lncRNAs) have got much attention for their role in the progression of cancers. In this research, lncRNA linc-ITGB1 was studied to identify whether it affects the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed to detect the linc-ITGB1 expression of CRC cells and tissues. Moreover, the associations between linc-ITGB1 expression level and patients' overall survival rate were further analyzed. Furthermore, we conducted function assays, including wound healing assay and transwell assay, to explore the effect of linc-ITGB1 on CRC metastasis in vitro. In addition, the underlying mechanism was further studied. RT-qPCR results showed that linc-ITGB1 expression level was higher in CRC samples than that in adjacent tissues. Linc-ITGB1 expression was related closely to patients' overall survival time. Moreover, cell migration and cell invasion were inhibited after linc-ITGB1 was silenced in vitro. In addition, the mRNA and protein expression of BDNF was downregulated by the silence of linc-ITGB1. Furthermore, the expression level of BDNF was higher in CRC samples than that in adjacent tissues and was positively related to the expression of linc-ITGB. These results indicate that linc-ITGB1 could enhance CRC cell migration and invasion via upregulating BDNF. Linc-ITGB1 might be a potential therapeutic target for CRC patients.