Purpose: Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) has been identified as an important modulator of gene expression and other activities of the cells. This kind of genes also has a significant role in the growth and development of human cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Among lncRNAs, thymopoietin (TMPO)-antisense RNA 1 (TMPO-AS1) is of particular significance and might have a role in CRC regulation. The current study aimed to determine the involvement of TMPO-AS1 in CRC patients.
Methods: In this study, 50 pairs of tumor and tumor marginal samples of CRC patients were investigated to assess the expression level of TMPO-AS1 in this cancer. For this purpose, the total RNA was isolated from the tissues using the TRIzol RNA extraction method, and after synthesis of the complementary DNA, the TMPO-AS1 expression was measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) technique. In addition, clinicopathological characteristics of the CRC patients were analyzed in the study groups.
Results: The findings demonstrated the overexpression of TMPO-AS1 in CRC tissues. Interestingly, the expression level of TMPO-AS1 was significantly correlated with clinicopathological features of the patients such as lymph node and distant metastasis.
Conclusion: The overexpression of TMPO-AS1 gene in CRC suggests that this lncRNA and its underlying signaling pathways can be considered a prognostic tumor marker and may pave the way for the future development of novel therapeutic options for CRC.
Keywords: Colorectal Cancer; Long noncoding RNA; Quantitative real-time PCR; TMPO-AS1.