LncRNA NBR2 suppresses migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells by downregulating miRNA-21

It has been reported that lncRNA NBR2 regulates cancer metabolism. We investigated the role of NBR2 in colorectal cancer. We found that NBR2 was downregulated in colorectal cancer tissues than in adjacent healthy tissues. Decreased expression levels of NBR2 in tumor tissues were observed with the increase of clinical stages. MiRNA-21 was upregulated in colorectal cancer tissues than in adjacent healthy tissues, and was significantly and inversely correlated with NBR2. NBR2 overexpression downregulated miRNA-21 in colorectal cancer cells, while miRNA-21 overexpression failed to significantly affect NBR2 expression. NBR2 overexpression suppressed migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells. MiRNA-21 overexpression played an opposite role and attenuated the effects of NBR2 overexpression. NBR2 overexpression did not significantly alter cancer cell proliferation. Therefore, lncRNA NBR2 inhibited colorectal cancer cell migration and invasion possibly by downregulating miRNA-21.