Circular RNA promotes tumorigenic capacity of lung cancer via .

BACKGROUND

To explore the role of circular RNA (circRNA) in tumorigenic capacity of lung cancer (LC).

METHODS

Thirty primary LC tissues were used to detect circRNAs expression. was silenced in two LC cell lines using lentivirus-mediated short hairpins RNAs. Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR), northern blot and in situ hybridization (ISH) assay were used to measure the expression of circRNA.

RESULTS

CircRNA was highly expressed in LC tumors. deficiency significantly abrogated clone formation. depletion substantially decreased tumor growth compared to WT control cells. overexpression was dramatically increased cell growth in LC cell lines. Consequently, overexpression substantially promoted tumor propagation. Consistently, circZFR deficiency significantly reduced the expression of and major cell cycle genes in LC cell lines. In contrast, depletion did not alter the expression of ZFR. Consequently, deficiency dramatically decreased H3K4me3 levels on the promoter at -1,100 to -900 bp segment of promoter.

CONCLUSIONS

was related with LC growth and and tumorigenic capacity of LC. The possible mechanism was to regulating expression of , indicating the signaling might be a promising therapeutic target for LC treatment.