Abstract
BackgroundLong intergenic non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that are involved in gene expression regulation. Taurine up-regulated gene 1 (TUG1) is a cancer progression related lncRNA in some tumor oncogenesis; however, its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. In this study, we determined the expression patterns of TUG1 in CRC patients and explored its effect on CRC cell metastasis using cultured representative CRC cell lines.MethodsThe expression levels of TUG1 in 120 CRC patients and CRC cells were determined using quantitative real-time PCR. HDACs and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related gene expression were determined using western blot. CRC cell metastasis was assessed by colony formation, migration assay and invasion assay.ResultsOur data showed that the levels of TUG1 were upregulated in both CRC cell lines and primary CRC clinical samples. TUG1 upregulation was closely correlated with the survival time of CRC patients. Overexpression of TUG1 in CRC cells increased their colony formation, migration, and invasion invitro and promoted their metastatic potential in vivo, whereas knockdown of TUG1 inhibited the colony formation, migration, and invasion of CRC cells invitro. It is also worth pointing out that TUG1 activated EMT-related gene expression.ConclusionOur data suggest that tumor expression of lncRNA TUG1 plays a critical role in CRC metastasis. TUG1 may have potential roles as a biomarker and/or a therapeutic target in colorectal cancer.
Highlights
Long intergenic non-coding RNAs are a class of non-coding RNAs that are involved in gene expression regulation
We observed that Taurine up-regulated gene 1 (TUG1) expression was significantly elevated in all colorectal cancer (CRC) lines compared to normal colorectal cells (Fig. 2a)
We evaluated HDAC1, HDAC2, and HDAC3 expression in these CRC lines in comparison to control and we found that HDAC1 expression was upregulated, while the expression levels of HDAC2 and HDAC3 protein remained unchanged in CRC cells (Fig. 2c)
Summary
Long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that are involved in gene expression regulation. Taurine up-regulated gene 1 (TUG1) is a cancer progression related lncRNA in some tumor oncogenesis; its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a primarily world-wide health concern in spite of significant improvements in its diagnosis and therapy modalities. LncRNAs, transcribed by RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II), are characterized by lengths of 200 nucleotides to ~100 kilobases (kb) and by their lack of a significant open reading frame [3]. These mRNA-like molecules are pervasively transcribed and roughly classified as antisense, based on their position relative to the protein-coding genes [5] and
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