CircASPH Enhances Exosomal STING to Facilitate M2 Macrophage Polarization in Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

Exosomes are considered a mediator of communication within the tumor microenvironment (TME), which modulates cancer progression through transmitting cargos between cancer cells and other cancer-related cells in TME. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have emerged to be regulators in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression, but most of them have not been discussed in CRC. This study aims to investigate the role of circRNA aspartate beta-hydroxylase (circASPH) in CRC progression and its correlation with exosome-mediated TME. At first, we determined that circASPH was upregulated in CRC samples and cell lines. Functionally, the circASPH deficiency suppressed the malignant processes of CRC cells and also inhibited in vivo tumor growth via enhancing antitumor immunity. Mechanically, circASPH facilitated macrophage M2 polarization by upregulating exosomal stimulator of interferon genes (STING). CircASPH interacted with insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 2 (IGF2BP2) to stabilize IGF2BP2 protein, therefore enhancing the stability of m6A-modified STING mRNA. In turn, coculture of STING-overexpressed macrophages recovered the suppression of silenced circASPH on the malignancy of CRC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Our study demonstrated that circASPH enhances exosomal STING to facilitate M2 macrophage polarization, which further accelerates CRC progression. The findings support circASPH as a promising therapeutic target for CRC treatment.

Keywords: STING; circASPH; colorectal cancer; exosome; macrophage polarization.