Knockdown of long non-coding RNA LINC01123 plays a molecular sponge on miR-625-5p to inhibit the process of colorectal cancer cells via LASP1.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) at an advanced stage of cancer has a lower 5-year survival rate. Research on the molecular biological mechanisms of CRC is helpful for disease prevention and treatment. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were shown to be suitable as therapeutic targets for CRC. Previously, our research team found that LINC01123 promoted proliferation and metastasis in CRC by regulating miR-625-5p and the LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP1). Therefore, this study speculated that the molecular sponge effect of LINC01123 on miR-625-5p affected the process of CRC via regulating LASP1. The LINC01123-silenced CRC cell models (using the LOVO and SW480 cells) and xenograft tumor models were established to verify the above conjecture. As a result, it was found that silencing LINC01123 inhibited viability, proliferation, metastasis, and invasion but promoted apoptosis in LOVO and SW480 cells. Additionally, the knockdown of LINC01123 inhibited the LASP1, N-cadherin, PCNA, and Bcl-2 protein levels and raised the E-cadherin, Bax, and Caspase-3 protein levels in vitro. Furthermore, it showed that LINC01123, as a molecular sponge, targeted the miR-625-5p/LASP1 axis. The results of the xenograft tumor assay further verified the above effects of LINCO1123-silenced on tumor growth in vivo. And the miR-625-5p mimics treatment promoted the aforementioned effects of silencing LINC01123 on CRC cells while overexpressing LASP1 has an antagonistic effect to silencing LINC01123. In conclusion, this study suggests that silencing LINC01123 inhibits the process of CRC via sponging to the miR-625-5p/LASP1 axis. This finding hopes to provide research fundamentals on the biological mechanism study of CRC.