Long Noncoding RNA HOXC-AS2 Inhibits Cell Proliferation in Colorectal Cancer by Regulating UBE2L6 Expression Through Sponging miR-146b-5p

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that lncRNA HOXC-AS2 regulates the tumorigenesis and progression of multiple tumors. In present study we explored the biological function of HOXC-AS2 in colorectal cancer and its potential mechanisms. Firstly, we found that the expression of HOXC-AS2 was down-regulated in colorectal cancer tissues than its adjacent normal tissues, and the expression level of HOXC-AS2 was found to show an inversely correlated with tumor size by analyzing the clinicopathological characteristics. HOXC-AS2 knockdown significantly increased its proliferation and colony formation ability in colorectal cancer cells, and conversely, HOXC-AS2 overexpression significantly decreased its proliferation and colony formation ability, suggesting that HOXC-AS2 exerts anti-tumor effect in colorectal cancer. In addition, we found that miR-146b-5p, as a downstream bioactive factor, could be targeting sponged by HOXC-AS2 in colorectal cancer, and the expression of UBE2L6 was regulated by miR-146b-5p. Thus, HOXC-AS2 inhibits the proliferation and colony formation ability in colorectal cancer cells by targeted sponging miR-146b-5p and then regulates UBE2L6.