CircASPH Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression Through Methylation and Expression of HAO2

Han Zhuo; Jinguo Xia; Jin Zhang; Junwei Tang; Sheng Han; Qitong Zheng; Deming Zhu; Feihong Zhang; Zhenggang Xu; Dongwei Sun; Zhongming Tan; Chen Wu

doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.911715

CircASPH Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression Through Methylation and Expression of HAO2

Front Oncol. 2022 Jun 20:12:911715. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.911715. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Hepatobiliary Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
² School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China.
³ General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

CircRNAs have been reported to be related to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. Limited studies have revealed the expression profile of circRNAs in tumor and para-tumor normal samples in HCC patients. We found that circASPH was significantly increased in HCC tumor samples and that the level of circASPH was closely related to the overall survival of HCC patients. Mechanistically, circASPH could regulate the methylation of the promoter and expression of hydrocyanic oxidase 2 (HAO2) to promote HCC progression by acting as a sponge for miR-370-3p, and miR-370-3p could target DNMT3b and increase the 5mC level. In summary, our study determined that circASPH could regulate the methylation and expression of HAO2 and it could be considered an important epigenetic regulator in HCC progression.

Keywords: DNMT3b; HCC; circASPH; methylation; miR-370-3p.