Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 15 pp 15532—15545

circIQCH sponges miR-145 to promote breast cancer progression by upregulating DNMT3A expression

Yuehua Li1,2, *, , Baohong Jiang3, *, , Zhengxi He4, , Hongbo Zhu1, , Rongfang He5, , Shanji Fan6, , Xiaoping Wu1, , Liming Xie1, , Xiusheng He2, ,

  • 1 Department of Medical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, Hunan Province, China
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Cancer Cellular and Molecular Pathology in Hunan Province, Cancer Research Institute, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, Hunan Province, China
  • 3 Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, Hunan Province, China
  • 4 Department of Oncology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan Province, China
  • 5 Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, Hunan Province, China
  • 6 Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001 Hunan Province, China
* Equal contribution

Received: April 23, 2020       Accepted: June 25, 2020       Published: August 3, 2020      

https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103746
How to Cite

Copyright © 2020 Li et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

As a unique type of RNA, circular RNAs (circRNAs) are important regulators of multiple biological processes in the progression of cancer. However, the potential role of most circRNAs in breast cancer lung metastasis is still unknown. In this study, we characterized and further investigated circIQCH (hsa_circ_0104345) by analyzing the circRNA microarray profiling in our previous study. circIQCH was upregulated in breast cancer tissues, especially in the metastatic sites. CCK-8, transwell, wound-healing and mouse xenograft assays were carried out to investigate the functions of circIQCH. Knockdown of circIQCH inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation and migration to lung. Moreover, luciferase reporter assays and RNA immunoprecipitation assays were performed to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanism of circIQCH. The results showed that circIQCH sponges miR-145 and promotes breast cancer progression by upregulating DNMT3A. In summary, our study demonstrated the pivotal role of circIQCH-miR-145-DNMT3A axis in breast cancer growth and metastasis via the mechanism of competing endogenous RNAs. Thus, circIQCH could be a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer.

Abbreviations

3’-UTR: 3’-untranslated region; BRCA1: BRCA1, DNA repair associated; circRNA: circular RNA; ceRNA: competing endogenous RNAs; DNMT3A: DNA methyltransferase 3 alpha; miRNAs: microRNAs; PTEN: phosphatase and tensin homolog; SD: standard deviation; siRNA: small interfering RNA; RIP: RNA immunoprecipitation.