circPCNX and Pecanex Promote Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Viability by Inhibiting miR-506

• Main Authors: Sun P, Fan X, Hu X, Fu X, Wei Q, Zang Y
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2020-01-01
• Series: Cancer Management and Research
• Subjects: circpcnx; pecanex; mir-506; hepatocellular carcinoma.
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/circpcnx-and-pecanex-promote-hepatocellular-carcinoma-cell-viability-b-peer-reviewed-article-CMAR

Peng Sun,1,* Xinyi Fan,2,* Xiao Hu,3 Xiaoyue Fu,1 Qian Wei,3 Yunjin Zang1 1Department of Liver Transplantation, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266003, People’s Republic of China; 2Intensive Care Unit, the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266003, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266003, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yunjin ZangDepartment of Liver Transplantation, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, 69 Haier Road, Qingdao 266003, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax [phone]Email [e-mail]: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant cancers, while the molecular mechanism is not clear. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of naturally occurring endogenous noncoding RNAs that prove to play important roles in the occurrence, development and prognosis of HCC. In this study, we focused on an abnormally expressed circular RNA-circPCNX in HCC and study the function of circPCNX and Pecanex (PCNX) in HCC.Methods: Circular RNA sequencing was used to find the abnormally expressed circRNAs and qRT-PCR was used to verify it. CCK8 assay, colony formation assay and cell apoptosis assay were used to study biological functions, and Luciferase reporter assay and Western blot analysis were used to study the mechanism.Results: We observed that circPCNX and Pecanex were significantly upregulated in tumor tissues of patients with HCC and correlated with clinicopathological variables or prognosis of HCC patients. Functional investigations showed circPCNX and Pecanex could promote the viability of HCC cells. Mechanistic investigations suggested that both circPCNX and Pecanex 3ʹUTR could bind to miR-506 and subsequently inhibited the miR-506-induced anticarcinogenic effect in HCC.Conclusion: Our study revealed the function of circPCNX and Pecanex in promoting HCC progression and acting as biomarkers in the clinical estimate and treatment of HCC.Keywords: circPCNX, Pecanex, miR-506, hepatocellular carcinoma