Bioinformatic analysis of long non-codingRNA ZFAS۱ that is modulating EMT through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in colorectal cancer

Background and aim: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the secondand third most commonly diagnosed cancer in females andmales, with a rising incidence rate in the world. Recently, manyresearchers have focused on long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs)for their aberrant expression patterns in CRC and role of thismolecules in tumorigenesis as an oncogene or tumor-suppressor.LncRNAs are a class of non-protein coding RNA moleculeswith more than ۲۰۰ nucleotides in length.Materials and Methods: To finding a potent diagnostic biomarker,we determined RNA-seq expression profiles of ۵۰lncRNAs, selected between tumor and non-tumor colorectaltissues, and we identified a signature of lncRNAs differentiallyexpressed in CRC patients. Based on the fold-change (p<۰/۰۵)we selected ۱۰ lncRNAs and then used research articles that focused on those, and finally selected ZFAS۱(Zinc Finger Antisense۱). Furthermore, we used the non-code database (http://www.noncode.org), and LNCipedia (http://www.lncipedia.org)and finally we found indirect correlation between ZFAS۱ andp۵۳ signaling pathway.Results: ZFAS۱ has significantly upregulated and takes part inproliferation, invasion, and EMT in CRC. ZFAS۱ acts as anoncogene in CRC via indirectly deregulation of p۵۳ that leadingto cell cycle progression and inhibition of apoptosis. ZFAS۱upregulation caused downregulation in p۵۳ protein expressionand caused upregulation in proliferation and cell cycle arrestand inhibition in apoptosis in CRC.Conclusion: We established that, ZFAS۱ play a role in p۵۳ networkvia deregulation of p۵۳ and inhibition of apoptosis withindirectly correlation, indicating that ZFAS۱ could take part inthe p۵۳‐mediated apoptosis pathway in CRC.