LncRNA FENDRR attenuates colon cancer progression by repression of SOX4 protein

Background and purpose: Homo sapiens FOXF1 adjacent noncoding developmental regulatory RNA (FENDRR) is a novel long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) exerting important effects on transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential role of FENDRR in colon cancer. Methods: Multiple cellular and molecular biology experiments were performed in the present study, such as CCK-8, Western blot, immunohistochemistry, confocal immunofluorescent and animal studies. Results: We determined that attenuation of FENDRR was a frequent event in colon cancer tissues and colon cancer cell lines, in contrast to their normal counterparts. Low levels of FENDRR were associated with the clinical stages and poor prognosis. Moreover, ectopic expression of FENDRR repressed colon cancer cell viability, invasion and epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, through a series of in vitro and in vivo assays, we reported the discovery of FENDRR modulating the expression of SOX4 protein, and hence in the progression of colon cancer. Conclusion: Based on these data, we demonstrated that FENDRR may function as a tumor-suppressor gene by repressing SOX4 and as a potential therapeutic target for colon cancer.