LncRNA NR2F1-AS1 Regulates miR-371a-3p/TOB1 Axis to Suppress the Proliferation of Colorectal Cancer Cells

A recent study reported the oncogenic function of lncRNA NR2F1-AS1 in liver cancer. Interestingly, by analyzing TCGA data set, the downregulation of NR2F1-AS1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) was observed. This observation triggered interest to analyze the functions of NR2F1-AS1 in CRC. It was observed that NR2F1-AS1 was downregulated in CRC and predicted poor survival. NR2F1-AS1 can directly interact with miR-371a-3p but their overexpression failed to affect the expression of each other. However, NR2F1-AS1 overexpression led to the upregulation of TOB1, a target of miR-371a-3p. Cell proliferation analysis revealed reduced proliferation rate of CRC cells after NR2F1-AS1 and TOB1 overexpression. MiR-371a-3p overexpression played an opposite role and reduced the effects of NR2F1-AS1 and TOB1 overexpression. In conclusion, NR2F1-AS1 regulates miR-371a-3p/TOB1 axis to suppress the proliferation of CRC cells.