Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies of the digestive system with high mortality rates. Recent studies have demonstrated that circRNAs are novel noncoding RNAs that play vital roles in the tumorigenesis and development of gastric cancer. Our study found a novel circRNA, namely, hsa_circ_0107595 (also called circABCA5), that is overexpressed in gastric cancer based on circRNA sequencing. qPCR demonstrated its overexpression in gastric cancer specimens. The overexpression or knockdown of circABCA5 in gastric cancer cell lines was achieved by lentiviral-mediated transfection. All MTS, EdU, Transwell and migration assays and xenograft experiments demonstrated that circABCA5 could promote gastric cancer proliferation, invasion, and migration in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, both RIP and RNA pulldown assays confirmed that circABCA5 could bind to the SPI1 protein, upregulate SPI1 expression, and promote its nuclear translocation. SPI1 could further promote the malignant phenotype of gastric cancer by activating IL6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling. In addition, EIF4A3 could directly bind to circABCA5, promoting its stability and expression. Our study reveals that circABCA5 plays a vital role in the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer and may even be developed as a molecular target for the treatment of gastric cancer.
Keywords: Gastric cancer; IL6; SPI1; circABCA5; progression.
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