The lncRNA FEZF1-AS1 Promotes the Progression of Colorectal Cancer Through Regulating OTX1 and Targeting miR-30a-5p

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in and regulate the biological process of colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. Our previous research identified differentially expressed lncRNAs in 10 CRC tissues and 10 matched nontumor tissues by next-generation sequencing (NGS). In this study, we identified an lncRNA, FEZF1 antisense RNA 1 (FEZF1-AS1), and further explored its function and mechanism in CRC. We verified that FEZF1-AS1 is highly expressed in CRC tissues and cell lines. Through functional experiments, we found that reduced levels of FEZF1-AS1 significantly suppressed CRC cell migration, invasion, and proliferation and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, we discovered that reduced levels of the lncRNA FEZF1-AS1 inhibited the activation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT); the overexpression of orthodenticle homeobox 1 (OTX1) partially rescued the FEZF1-AS1-induced inhibition of protein expression. It indicated that FEZF1-AS1 may play a role in the occurrence and development of CRC by regulating the FEZF1-AS1/OTX1/EMT pathway. Furthermore, it was reported that FEZF1-AS1 is located in both the nucleus and cytoplasm of HCT116 cells. Dual-luciferase reporter assays verified that FEZF1-AS1 directly binds miR-30a-5p and negatively regulated each other. Further, we showed that 5'-nucleotidase ecto (NT5E) is a direct target of miR-30a-5p, and the inhibition of miR-30a-5p expression partially rescued the inhibitory effect of FEZF1-AS1 on NT5E. Our results indicated that the mechanism by which FEZF1-AS1 positively regulates the expression of NT5E is through sponging miR-30a-5p. Our study demonstrated that lncRNA FEZF1-AS1 is involved in the development of CRC and may serve as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for CRC patients.