LncRNA MCF2L-AS1 aggravates the malignant development of colorectal cancer via targeting miR-105-5p/RAB22A axis

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents one of the major malignant cancers in the world. It has been demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can cause great influences on various human cancers. Though MCF.2 cell line derived transforming sequence like antisense RNA 1 (MCF2L-AS1) and its carcinogenic effect in CRC has been elucidated by several previous researches, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. AIM: We aimed at exploring the function and regulatory mechanism of MCF2L-AS1 in CRC. METHODS: MCF2L-AS1 expression in CRC cells was tested via RT-qPCR assay. The effects of MCF2L-AS1 on the biological properties of CRC cells were testified through functional experiments. The molecular mechanism of MCF2L-AS1 was verified through mechanism experiments. RESULTS: MCF2L-AS1 was highly expressed in CRC cells, and it could enhance the proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process of CRC cells. MiR-105-5p was sponged by MCF2L-AS1 in CRC cells and Ras-related protein Rab-22A (RAB22A) was verified to be the downstream target of miR-105-5p. It was verified through rescue assays that RAB22A overexpression or miR-105-5p silencing could reverse the repressive impact of MCF2L-AS1 silencing on CRC progression. CONCLUSION: MCF2L-AS1 accelerated the malignant development of CRC cells by targeting the miR-105-5p/RAB22A axis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-08668-w.