Circular RNA Circ100084 functions as sponge of miR-23a-5p to regulate IGF2 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC ) has become a major cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Circular RNA s (circRNA s) are non-coding RNA s that serve important roles in multiple cancers. However, the role of circRNA s in HCC remains largely unknown. In the present study, a circRNA microarray dataset of HCC samples, GSE97332, was downloaded from the gene expression omnibus database. Following data preprocessing, differentially expressed circRNA s between HCC tissues and normal tissues were determined using GEO 2R. The circRNA- miRNA interactions were predicted by the miRanda database. The miRTarbase database was used to search for target genes of the miRNA s. A circRNA- miRNA- mRNA network was constructed using Cytoscape based on the obtained circRNA, miRNA and mRNA . In this network, the upregulated circRNA hsa_circRNA _100084 was found to be involved in a competing endogenous relationship of hsa_ circRNA _100084-hsa-miR- 23a-5p- insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2). The differential expression of hsa_circRNA _100084, hsa-miR- 23a-5p and IGF2 in HCC tissues and liver cancer cells was validated by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR . Additionally, the interactions between hsa-miR- 23a-5p with hsa_circRNA _100084 and IGF2 were validated by dual-luciferase reporter assays. Knocking down hsa_circRNA _100084 inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of liver cancer cells, while the simultaneous overexpression of IGF2 reversed the effects of hsa_circRNA _100084 knockdown. The results show that hsa_circRNA _100084 could promote the expression of IGF2 by acting as a sponge of hsa-miR- 23a-5p in liver cancer cells.