Cell Death Discovery (Nov 2021)

circKDM4C enhances bladder cancer invasion and metastasis through miR-200bc-3p/ZEB1 axis

  • Xueyou Ma,
  • Yufan Ying,
  • Jiazhu Sun,
  • Haiyun Xie,
  • Jiangfeng Li,
  • Liujia He,
  • Weiyu Wang,
  • Shiming Chen,
  • Haixiang Shen,
  • Jiahe Yi,
  • Jindan Luo,
  • Xiao Wang,
  • Xiangyi Zheng,
  • Ben Liu,
  • Liping Xie

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41420-021-00712-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play essential roles in human bladder cancer (BCa) development, however, unusual expression patterns and functional dysfunction of circRNAs in BCa have not been evaluated. In this study, we validated that circKDM4C (hsa_circ_0001839), derived from the KDM4C gene, is elevated in BCa cell lines as well as tissues. Functionally, overexpression of circKDM4C significantly enhances, and silencing of circKDM4C suppresses migration and invasion capabilities of BCa cells. Mechanistically, circKDM4C can directly interact with miR-200b-3p and miR-200c-3p as a miRNA sponge, which enhances the expression of ZEB1 and promotes mesenchymal phenotype. Conclusively, our findings indicate that circKDM4C may act as a pro-oncogenic factor in BCa invasion and metastasis via the circKDM4C/miR-200bc-3p/ZEB1 axis, which is a potential biomarker or therapeutic target for bladder cancer.