NBAT1/miR-21 axis in progression of colorectal cancer and impact of PVT-1 polymorphism on miR-145 expression level and its clinical significance.

INTRODUCTION

Patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) have a higher chance of survival when the disease is detected and treated effectively at an early stage. Plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT-1), an oncogenic lncRNA, and neuroblastoma associated trans-cript 1 (NBAT1), a tumor suppressor lncRNA, have been linked to CRC progression, acting as competing endo-genous RNAs to the tumor suppressor miRNA-145 and oncomiRNA-21. The aim of the current study was to construct a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) associated with CRC. In addition, we aimed to investigate the impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the rs13255292 lncRNA PVT-1 on miR-145 expression levels and the lncRNA-NBAT1/miR-21 axis in the progression of CRC.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Bioinforma-tic analysis was performed to determine differentially expressed genes (DEGs), differentially expressed micro-RNAs (DEMs), and differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) in CRC. PVT-1 rs13255292 C/T was genotyped and serum PVT-1, NBAT-1, miRNA-145 and miRNA-21 were assessed by qPCR in 85 CRC patients, 80 AP, and 85 controls.

RESULTS

The frequencies of the PVT-1 rs13255292 CT/TT genotype and T al-le-- le were significantly elevated in the CRC group compared to the controls. PVT-1 serum levels significantly increased due to the presence of the T allele in the studied groups, which was associated with downregulation of the miR-145 tumor suppressor. Also, the expression of NBAT-1 was significantly down-expressed, while that of oncomiR-21 was significantly elevated.

CONCLUSIONS

Bioinformatics analyses provides effective identification of potential lncRNAs linked with CRC. PVT-1/miR-145 and NBAT1/miR-21 are being investigated as potential non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers for CRC.