promotes proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by down-regulating .

BACKGROUND

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a new family of endogenous non-coding RNAs generated by a covalently closed loop, and a mounting body of data suggests they control gene expression. While the homeodomain-interacting protein kinase-2 () is generated from the homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2 () gene, the function of in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) along with the responsible mechanisms are still unclear.

METHODS

RNA-sequencing data was utilized to determine the differentially expressed circRNAs, and was established as a novel prospective circRNA. The expressions of circRNAs along with messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in NPC tissues and cells was assessed via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and the transfection of NPC cells with plasmids and was adopted to explore the effects of in NPC. Western blotting was adopted to assess the expressions of and , while Cell Counting Kit (CCK)-8 assay coupled with colony-forming assay were utilized to assess the biological functions. The expression of nuclear and cytoplasmic was detected via nucleocytoplasmic separation assay.

RESULTS

Herein, we established that was upregulated in NPC tissues. Over-expression of promoted cell proliferation and , and further studies revealed it inhibited the protein level of in a post-transcriptional pattern, decreasing expression and suppressing the proliferation of NPC.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings demonstrated elevated facilitated the cell proliferation of NPC cells via the axis, suggesting might be an oncogene to promote the process of NPC and could be a novel treatment target for its management.