LINC00657 promotes colorectal cancer stem-like cell invasion by functioning as a miR-203a sponge.

Recently, the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in regulating multiple cancer types has attracted increasing interest because of their involvement in cell metastasis in different cancer types. Previous studies indicated that LINC00657 may work as an oncogene in gastric and colon cancer. However, the functional role and mechanistic action of LINC00657 on colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unknown. Therefore, in this study, the role of LINC00657 in CRC was evaluated. Our results showed that LINC00657 was enriched in CRC stem-like cells (CSCs) and significantly promoted CSCs invasion ability. LINC00657 expression resulted frequently up-regulated in CRC patient tissue, and high expression of LINC00657 was correlated with an advanced clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and poor overall survival of CRC patients. Furthermore, LINC00657 worked as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-203a, antagonizing its function as a tumor suppressor and leading to the de-repression of CSCs invasion. Collectively, our observations revealed that LINC00657 is involved in CRC invasion by acting as a competing endogenous RNA. Thus, LINC00657 may serve as a potential prognostic factor and/or therapeutic target for CRC.