Long noncoding RNA TMPO-AS1 accelerates glycolysis by regulating the miR-1270/PKM2 axis in colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND: Long noncoding RNA thymopoietin-antisense RNA 1 (TMPO-AS1) is recognized as a participant in cancer progression.

Nevertheless, its biological function in colorectal cancer remains obscure and needs further elucidation.

METHODS AND RESULTS: First, we discovered enriched TMPO-AS1 in the tumor tissues that were related to poor prognosis.

TMPO-AS1 knockdown enhanced SW480 cell apoptosis but inhibited invasion, proliferation, migration, and glucose metabolism.

Further, MiR-1270 is directly bound with TMPO-AS1.

MiR-1270 mimics were confirmed to inhibit cell proliferation, invasion, and glucose metabolism in our study.

Mechanistically, miR-1270 directly is bound with the 3' untranslated regions (3'UTR) of PKM2 to downregulate PKM2.

MiR-1270 inhibitors reversed the TMPO-AS1 knockdown’s effect on suppressing the tumor cell proliferation, invasion, and glycolysis, while the knockdown of PKM2 further inverted the function of miR-1270 inhibitors on the TMPO-AS1 knockdown.

CONCLUSIONS: This study illustrated that TMPO-AS1 advanced the development and the glycolysis of colorectal cancer by modulating the miR-1270/PKM2 axis, which provided a new insight into the colorectal cancer therapeutic strategy.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-024-11964-w.