Open Access

ARTICLE

CircMYBL2 facilitates hepatocellular carcinoma progression by regulating E2F1 expression

JUNZHE YI^1,#, BINBIN LI^2,#, XIAOMIN YIN³, LINGRUI LIU¹, CAILU SONG¹, YING ZHAO⁴, MANBO CAI³, HAILIN TANG¹, DONG CHEN^4,*, NING LYU^1,*
1 State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, 510060, China
2 Department of Medical Oncology, The Third People’s Hospital of Yongzhou, Yongzhou, 425000, China
3 Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China
4 Center of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
* Address correspondence to: Dong Chen, chend9@mail.sysu.edu.cn; Ning Lyu, lvning@sysucc.org.cn
# These authors contributed equally to this work

Oncology Research https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2024.047524

Received 08 November 2023; Accepted 28 December 2023; Published online 24 January 2024

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been recognized as pivotal regulators in tumorigenesis, yet the biological functions as well as molecular mechanisms of the majority of circRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain elusive. We sought to unveil the expression profile and biological role of circMYBL2 in HCC. Initial microarray analyses were conducted to probe the expression profile of circMYBL2 in HCC cells, and qRT‒PCR analysis was then performed in HCC cell lines and tissues, revealing significant upregulation of circMYBL2. Subsequent experiments were conducted to evaluate the biological function of circMYBL2 in HCC progression. Furthermore, bioinformatics analysis, qRT‒PCR analysis, luciferase reporter assays, and western blot analysis were employed to investigate the interplay among circMYBL2, miR-1205, and E2F1. CircMYBL2 was found to exhibit marked upregulation in tumor tissues as well as HCC cell lines. Elevated expression of circMYBL2 increased the proliferation and migration of HCC cells, whereas circMYBL2 knockdown elicited contrasting effects. Mechanistically, our results indicated that circMYBL2 promoted E2F1 expression and facilitated HCC progression by sponging miR-1205. Our findings revealed that circMYBL2 contributed to HCC progression through the circMYBL2/miR-1205/E2F1 axis, suggesting the potential of circMYBL2 as a novel target for HCC treatment or a prognostic biomarker for HCC.

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Keywords

Circular RNAs, circMYBL2, miR-1205, E2F1, Hepatocellular carcinoma

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