LncRNA NORAD contributes to colorectal cancer progression by inhibition of miR-202-5p.

Previous study indicates that long noncoding RNA NORAD could serve as a competing endogenous RNA to pancreatic cancer metastasis. However, its role in colorectal cancer requires to be investigated. In the present study, we found that the expression of NORAD was significantly upregulated in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues. Furthermore, the expression of NORAD was positively related with CRC metastasis and patients' poor prognosis. Knockdown of NORAD markedly inhibited CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion but induced cell apoptosis in vitro. In vivo experiments also indicated an inhibitory effect of NORAD on tumor growth. In mechanism, we found that NORAD served as a competing endogenous RNA for miR-202-5p. We found that there was an inversely relationship between the expression of NORAD and miR-202-5p in CRC tissues. Moreover, overexpression of miR-202-5p in SW480 and HCT116 cells significantly inhibited cellular proliferation, migration and invasion. Taken together, our study demonstrated NORAD/miR-202-5p axis plays a pivot function on CRC progression.