ABSTRACT
Recently, an increasing number of studies have reported that dysregulation of circular RNA (circRNA) expression plays critical roles in the progression of several cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the detailed molecular mechanisms of circRNAs involvement in CRC remain largely unknown. Here, we confirmed that the level of circEGFR was significantly increased in CRC tissues compared to matched adjacent non-tumor tissues, and a high level of circEGFR was correlated with poor clinicopathological characteristics and poor prognosis in patients with CRC. Moreover, increased circEGFR expression promoted CRC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro. Mechanistically, circEGFR acted as a ceRNA for miR-106a-5p to relieve the repressive effect of miR-106a-5p on DDX5 mRNA. Moreover, circEGFR enhanced DDX5 expression, thereby upregulating p-AKT levels. Together, these findings showed that circEGFR promoted CRC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion through the miR-106a-5p/DDX5/AKT axis, and may serve as a promising diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for CRC patients.
Subject(s)
Humans , Colorectal Neoplasms/genetics , MicroRNAs/genetics , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Cell Movement/genetics , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Proliferation/genetics , DEAD-box RNA Helicases , RNA, CircularABSTRACT
Previous studies have shown that miRNAs participate in a wide range of biological functions and play important roles in various human diseases including cancer.We found miR-146b-5p significantly dysregulated in human pancreatic cancer cells by qRT-PCR.To demonstrate its function and regulation mechanism,we overexpressed miR-146-5p by transfecting the mimics.Our data showed that miR-146b-5p overexpression significantly reduced the abilities of migration and invasion of MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic cancer cells.Furthermore,we found that matrix metalloproteinase 16 (MMP16) was a downstream target of miR-146b-5p by dual-luciferase reporter assay.Altogether,our findings suggest that miR-146b-5p may be involved in pancreatic cancer cell migration and invasion by targeting MMP16,and miR-146b-5p may be a potential therapeutic target for the pancreatic cancer.