Circular RNA hsa_circ_0075542 acts as a sponge for microRNA-1197 to suppress malignant characteristics and promote apoptosis in prostate cancer cells

ABSTRACT

Numerous differentially expressed circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been identified; however, their roles have not been fully elucidated. Since dysregulated circRNAs may have clinical applications, it is vital to study their expression characteristics, function, and mechanism in prostate cancer cells. The role, regulatory mechanism, and expression of hsa_circ_0075542 were analyzed using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated that the expression of hsa_circ_0075542 was downregulated in prostate tumor tissues. The functions of prostate cancer cell lines LNCaP and PC3 cells were assessed using cell counting kit-8 and transwell assays and flow cytometry analysis. The results of the functional experiments showed that overexpression of hsa_circ_0075542 suppressed cell proliferation, reduced migration and invasiveness capabilities, and promoted apoptosis. Moreover, hsa_circ_0075542 targeted the microRNA-1197 (miR-1197) homeobox C11 (HOXC11) axis by sponging miR-1197. Overexpression of miR-1197 played a tumor-promoting role. Overexpression of hsa_circ_0075542 alleviated the tumor-promoting effect of miR-1197 overexpression In conclusion, hsa_circ_0075542 suppressed malignant characteristics and promoted apoptosis in LNCaP and PC3 cells by acting as a competing endogenous RNA of miR-1197. The hsa_circ_0075542/miR-1197 axis might play a role via HOXC11.

KEYWORDS:

• Prostate cancer
• tumor suppressor
• competitive endogenous rna
• miR-1197
• hoxc11

HIGHLIGHTS

1. hsa_circ_0075542 level is downregulated prostate cancer tissues

2. Over-expression of hsa_circ_0075542 suppresses cell proliferation and metastasis

3. Over-expression of hsa_circ_0075542 promotes apoptosis

4. hsa_circ_0075542 targets the miR-1197/HOXC11 axis

Abbreviations

circular RNAs (circRNAs); microRNA (miRNA); quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR); overexpression of hsa_circ_0075542 recombinant plasmid (ov-circ_0075542); negative control miRNA (miR-NC); miRNA response element (MRE); biotinylated miR-1197 mimics (biotin-miR-1197;, biotinylated miR-NC mimics (biotin-miR-NC); homeobox C11 (HOXC11)

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions

Yuefu Han and Xingqiao Wen participated in the design of the study and writing of the draft manuscript. Xiaojuan Li participated in the design of the study and the statistical analysis. Dong Chen, Lian Peng, and Bin Lai were involved in the qRT-PCR, cell culture, and cell functional experiment. Hongcai Huang participated in the design of the study and revision of the draft manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Availability of data and materials

All data from this study are available in this published article.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. The samples were collected in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, revised in 2013 (http://ethics.iit.edu/ecodes/node/3931), and all protocols were approved by the Ethics Committee of Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Shaoguan Science and Technology Project in 2020 (No. 200811124531717), and the Wu Jieping Medical Foundation (No. HQ20-086).