Long noncoding RNA SPRY4-IT1 promotes malignant development of colorectal cancer by targeting epithelial–mesenchymal transition

The clinical significance and biological functions of long noncoding RNA SPRY4 intronic transcript 1 (SPRY4-IT1) in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain largely unclear. Herein, we are the first to report that the SPRY4-IT1 was significantly upregulated in CRC tissues, serum, and cells. Higher SPRY4-IT1 expression was markedly associated with advanced Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) stage in a cohort of 84 CRC patients. Multivariate analyses indicated that SPRY4-IT1 expression could be useful as an independent predictor for overall survival. Further in vitro experiments revealed that knockdown of SPRY4-IT1 inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of CRC cells and induced cell cycle arrestment. Moreover, we confirmed that the expression of epithelial–mesenchymal transition-related genes was modulated through alteration of SPRY4-IT1 expression. These results suggest that SPRY4-IT1, as an oncogenic regulator, may serve as a candidate prognostic marker and potential target for CRC therapies.