We aimed to investigate the effect of miR-21-5p on process of colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) cells and its connection with CHL1.The result showed that the over-expression of miR-21-5p promoted proliferation and invasion of COAD cells through targeting CHL1. The findings of our study may assist researchers in discovering the mechanism of progression of COAD and may even help in developing antitumor treatments. Here, CHL1 is linked to colon adenocarcinoma.