Promoter of lncRNA <i>MORT</i> is aberrantly methylated in colorectal cancer

Aberrant DNA methylation plays essential roles in the colorectal cancer (CRC) carcinogenesis and has been demonstrated as a promising marker for cancer early detection. In this project, methylation status of the <i>MORT</i> promoter was studied in CRC and their marginal tissues using qMSP assay. Furthermore, we investigated the molecular function of <i>MORT</i> in CRC progression using computational analysis. The results showed a high methylation level of <i>MORT</i> promoter in CRC tissues. By in silico analysis, we found that <i>MORT</i> downregulation could promote the proliferation of CRC cells <i>via</i> sponging of <i>has-miR-574-5p</i> and <i>has-miR-31-5p</i>, and alteration of their targets expression pattern such as <i>MYOCD</i> and <i>FOXP2</i>. In conclusion, based on our results, promoter hypermethylation of MORT might be considered as a potential biomarker for CRC detection.