CircRNA circ-ATAD1 is downregulated in endometrial cancer and suppresses cell invasion and migration by downregulating miR-10a through methylation.

It has been reported that circ-ATAD1 promotes the development of gastric cancer. This study was carried out to analyze the role of circ-ATAD1 in endometrial cancer (EC). EC and paired non-tumor tissues from EC patients (n = 60) were subjected to the isolation of total RNA and RT-qPCR to analyze the expression of circ-ATAD1 and miR-10a. Correlations between circ-ATAD1 and miR-10a were analyzed by Pearson's correlation coefficient. The effects of circ-ATAD1 overexpression on miR-10a expression and methylation were analyzed by RT-qPCR and methylation-specific PCR (MSP). The roles of circ-ATAD1 and miR-10a in regulating EC cell invasion and migration were analyzed by Transwell assays. We found that circ-ATAD1 was downregulated in EC, while miR-10a was upregulated in EC. An inverse correlation between circ-ATAD1 and miR-10a was observed across EC samples. In EC cells, circ-ATAD1 overexpression decreased miR-10a expression and increased miR-10a gene methylation. Transwell assay analysis showed that circ-ATAD1 overexpression totally reversed the enhancing effects of miR-10a on EC cell invasion and migration. Circ-ATAD1 is downregulated in EC and may suppress EC cell invasion and migration by downregulating miR-10a through methylation.