circRASGRF2 functions as an oncogenic gene in hepatocellular carcinoma by acting as a miR-1224 sponge

Di Wu; Anliang Xia; Tianlong Fan; Guoqiang Li

doi:10.1016/j.omtn.2020.10.035

circRASGRF2 functions as an oncogenic gene in hepatocellular carcinoma by acting as a miR-1224 sponge

Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. 2020 Oct 27:23:13-26. doi: 10.1016/j.omtn.2020.10.035. eCollection 2021 Mar 5.

Authors

Di Wu¹, Anliang Xia^{2

3}, Tianlong Fan¹, Guoqiang Li^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Liver Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
² Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
³ Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs broadly expressed in cells of various species. However, the contributions and molecular mechanisms of circRNAs to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain largely unknown. In the present study, we compared the expression of circRNAs between five paired HCC and adjacent noncancerous liver (ANL) tissues by using RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). circRASGRF2 (a circRNA located on chromosome 5 and derived from RASGRF2, hsa_circ_0073181) was identified and validated by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. The role of circRASGRF2 in HCC progression was assessed both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, RNA immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays were performed to confirm the interaction between circRASGRF2 and miR-1224 in HCC. circRASGRF2 was found to be significantly upregulated in HCC tissues and HCC cell lines compared with paired ANL tissues and normal cells. Our in vivo and in vitro data indicated that knockdown of circRASGRF2 inhibits the proliferation and migration of HCC cells. Mechanistically, we found that circRASGRF2 could promote the expression of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) by sponging miR-1224. Our data showed that circRASGRF2 is a central component linking circRNAs to progression of HCC, making it a potential therapeutic target.

Keywords: ceRNA; circRASGRF2; circRNAs; hepatocellular carcinoma.

Publication types

Retracted Publication