Long non-coding RNA TMEM51-AS1 inhibits colorectal cancer progression

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cause of death worldwide and has high mortality and a poor prognosis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-coding RNAs longer than 200 nucleotides that play roles in cancer through multiple mechanisms. TMEM51-AS1 is a newly discovered 40,650 bp lncRNA. Our results showed that TMEM51-AS1 expression was significantly downregulated in CRC tissues (fold change = 0.74, P < 0.0001). This finding was confirmed in 20 pairs of CRC carcinoma and paracancerous tissues (fold change = 0.5, P < 0.001). Additionally, TMEM51-AS1 expression was found to be significantly reduced in CRC cell lines compared to normal human intestinal epithelial cells (P < 0.001). Bioinformatic analysis revealed that TMEM51-AS1 expression was associated with immune escape, RNA methylation, and DNA damage and repair. TMEM51-AS1 may also activate energy metabolism pathways to participate in cancer development. Drug sensitivity analysis confirmed that several drugs are more effective in CRC patients with high expression of TMEM51-AS1. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that TMEM51-AS1 can suppress the progression of CRC.