Circ_0050444 represses esophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression through sponging miR-486-3p to upregulate C10orf91

ABSTRACT

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) ranks as the fourth leading cause of tumor-related deaths in China. Circ_0050444 has been revealed to be downregulated in ESCC tissues, however, its function and molecular mechanism underlying ESCC progression is unknown. Therefore, we attempted to clarify the functional role and molecular mechanism of circ_0050444 underlying ESCC progression. RT-qPCR and RNase R digestion assays were used to evaluate circ_0050444 expression and stability characteristics in ESCC cells. Gain-of-function assays were conducted to clarify circ_0050444 role in ESCC cell malignant behaviors. Bioinformatics and mechanism experiments were performed to assess the relationship between circ_0050444 or C10orf91 and miR-486-3p in ESCC cells. Rescue assays were conducted to evaluate the regulatory function of the circ_0050444-miR-486-3p-C10orf91 axis in ESCC cellular processes. Circ_0050444 expression was found to be downregulated both in ESCC patient tissues and cell lines. Functionally, circ_0050444 overexpression repressed ESCC cell proliferative, migratory, and invasive capabilities in cultured cells. Mechanistically, circ_0050444 was found to be competitively bound with miR-486-3p to upregulate C10orf91 in ESCC cells. Moreover, the impact of circ_0050444 elevation on ESCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion was countervailed by C10orf91 silencing. Circ_0050444 presents downregulation and functions as a tumor suppressor in ESCC progression. Circ_0050444 suppresses ESCC proliferation, migration, and invasion through sponging miR-486-3p to upregulate C10orf91, providing a potential new direction for seeking therapeutic plans for ESCC.

KEYWORDS:

• Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
• circ_0050444
• C10orf91
• miRNAs
• biomarker

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics statement

All patients provided their written, voluntarily informed consent. All procedures were carried out in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the Helsinki Declaration and this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Taizhou People’s Hospital.

Availability of data and material

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Authors contributions

YL conceived and designed the experiments. DZ, YZ, CJ, and HK contributed significantly to the experiments and arranging data. ZZ performed data analyses. DZ wrote the draft manuscript. YL revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.