[Circular RNA homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 3 (circHIPK3) promotes growth and metastasis of glioma cells by sponging miR-124-3p].

Objective To investigate the effect of circular RNA homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 3 (circHIPK3) on the proliferation and metastasis of glioma cells via sponging miR-124-3p. Methods T98G cells were transfected with circHIPK3 short hairpin RNA (sh-circHIPK3), pcDNA3.1-circHIPK3, miR-124-3p mimics or pcDNA3.1-WEE1 using Lipofectamine 3000 reagent following the manufacturer's instructions. Real-time quantitative PCR was performed to evaluate the expression of circHIPK3 and miR-124-3p in glioma tissues and cell lines. CCK-8 assay was employed to assess the proliferation of T98G cells. Transwell assay was applied to validate the invasion of T98G cells. The targeting relationship among miR-124-3p, circHIPK3 and serine/threonine kinase WEE1 were verified by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. The expression of WEE1 and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related factors (E-cadherin, N-cadherin and vimentin) were measured by Western blot analysis. In addition, after the competitive binding of circHIPK3 and WEE1 to miR-124-3p, the proliferation of T98G cells was detected by CCK-8 assay; the invasion of T98G cells was evaluated by Transwell assay. Results The circHIPK3 was upregulated in glioma tissues and cell lines. Knockdown of circHIPK3 repressed the proliferation, invasion and EMT of T98G cells. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay confirmed that miR-124-3p was the target gene of circHIPK3, while WEE1 was the target gene of miR-124-3p. The miR-124-3p was over-expressed simultaneously with circHIPK3 or WEE1. Co-transfected sh-circHIPK3 and pcDNA3.1-WEE1 restored the inhibitory effect of miR-124-3p overexpression on the proliferation, invasion and EMT of T98G cells. Conclusion The circRNA-HIPK3 and WEE1 can promote the proliferation, invasion and EMT of glioma cells by sponging miR-124-3p.