Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant
carcinomas in the world, and
metastasis is the main cause of CRC-related death. However, the molecular network involved in CRC
metastasis remains poorly understood.
Long noncoding RNA (
lncRNA) plays a vital role in
tumorigenesis and may act as a
competing endogenous RNA (
ceRNA) to affect the expression of
mRNA by suppressing
miRNA function. In this study, we identified 628 mRNAs, 144 lncRNAs, and 25
miRNAs that are differentially expressed (DE) in metastatic CRC patients compared with nonmetastatic CRC patients from the
Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Functional enrichment analyses confirmed that the identified DE mRNAs are extensively involved in CRC
tumorigenesis and migration. By bioinformatics analysis, we constructed a
metastasis-associated
ceRNA network for CRC that includes 28 mRNAs, 12 lncRNAs, and 15
miRNAs. We then performed multivariate Cox regression analysis on the
ceRNA-related DE lncRNAs and identified a 3-lncRNA signature (LINC00114, LINC00261, and HOTAIR) with the greatest prognostic value for CRC. Clinical feature analysis and functional enrichment analysis further proved that these three lncRNAs are involved in CRC
tumorigenesis. Finally, we used Transwell, Cell Counting Kit (CCK)-8, and colony formation assays to clarify that the inhibition of LINC00114 promotes the migratory, invasive, and proliferative abilities of CRC cells. The results of the
luciferase assay suggest that LINC00114 is the direct target of miR-135a, which also verified the
ceRNA network. In summary, this study provides a
metastasis-associated
ceRNA network for CRC and suggests that the 3-lncRNA signature may be a useful candidate for the diagnosis and prognosis of CRC.