Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) CDKN2B‑antisense RNA 1 (AS1) functions as a tumor oncogene in numerous cancers. However, the roles and mechanism of CDKN2B‑AS1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) have not been explored. The present study aimed to investigate whether and how CDKN2B‑AS1 contributes to CRC progression. The data revealed that CDKN2B‑AS1 expression was upregulated in CRC tissues. Loss‑of‑function assays demonstrated that CDKN2B‑AS1 in CRC modulated cell proliferation and apoptosis, which was mediated by cyclin D1, cyclin‑dependent kinase (CDK) 4, p‑Rb, caspase‑9 and caspase‑3. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assays indicated direct binding of microRNA (miR)‑28‑5p to CDKN2B‑AS1. Moreover, the results herein revealed that the expression of miR‑28‑5p was negatively correlated with that of CDKN2B‑AS1 in CRC tissue. Moreover, CDKN2B‑AS1 acted as a miR‑28‑5p competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to target and regulate the expression of URGCP. These findings indicated that CDKN2B‑AS1 plays roles in CRC progression, providing a potential therapeutic target or novel diagnostic biomarker for CRC.
Keywords: CDKN2B‑AS1; apoptosis; colorectal cancer; miR‑28‑5p; proliferation.