Circular RNA-ITCH Suppresses Lung Cancer Proliferation via Inhibiting the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway

Biomed Res Int. 2016:2016:1579490. doi: 10.1155/2016/1579490. Epub 2016 Aug 24.

Abstract

As a special form of noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs (circRNAs) played important roles in regulating cancer progression mainly by functioning as miRNA sponge. While the function of circular RNA-ITCH (cir-ITCH) in lung cancer is still less reported, in this study, we firstly detected the expression of cir-ITCH in tumor tissues and paired adjacent noncancer tissues of 78 patients with lung cancer using a TaqMan-based quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The results showed that the expression of cir-ITCH was significantly decreased in lung cancer tissues. In cellular studies, cir-ITCH was also enhanced in different lung cancer cell lines, A549 and NIC-H460. Ectopic expression of cir-ITCH markedly elevated its parental cancer-suppressive gene, ITCH, expression and inhibited proliferation of lung cancer cells. Molecular analysis further revealed that cir-ITCH acted as sponge of oncogenic miR-7 and miR-214 to enhance ITCH expression and thus suppressed the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Altogether, our results suggested that cir-ITCH may play an inhibitory role in lung cancer progression by enhancing its parental gene, ITCH, expression.

MeSH terms

  • A549 Cells
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cell Survival
  • Dactinomycin / chemistry
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Lung Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Male
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism
  • Middle Aged
  • RNA*
  • RNA, Circular
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Repressor Proteins / genetics*
  • Repressor Proteins / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / genetics*
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / metabolism*
  • Wnt Signaling Pathway*

Substances

  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Circular
  • Repressor Proteins
  • Dactinomycin
  • RNA
  • ITCH protein, human
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases