CircNEIL3 regulatory loop promotes pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression via miRNA sponging and A-to-I RNA-editing

Molecular Cancer

Jiaye Liu¹  Yi Miao²  Baobao Cai²  Zipeng Lu²  Pengfei Wu²  Kuirong Jiang²  Xumin Huang²  Qun Chen²  Taoyue Yang²  Lingdong Meng²  Hao Yuan²  Weikang Hu²  Peng Shen²  Yihan Zhang² 

[1] Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China;Pancreas Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China;Pancreas Institute, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China;Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China;

关键词: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma;    circNEIL3;    miR-432-5p;    ADAR1;    GLI1;    RNA editing;    Cell cycle;    EMT;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12943-021-01333-7

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundA growing number of studies have focused on investigating circRNAs as crucial regulators in the progression of multiple cancer types. Nevertheless, the biological effects and underlying mechanisms of circRNAs in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remain unclear.MethodsDifferentially expressed circRNAs between cancerous tissue and adjacent normal tissues were identified by RNA sequencing in PDAC. Subsequently, in vitro and in vivo functional experiments were performed to investigate the functional roles of circNEIL3 in PDAC tumour growth and metastasis. Furthermore, RNA pull-down, dual-luciferase reporter assays, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and Sanger sequencing assays were performed to examine the circular interaction among circNEIL3, miR-432-5p and adenosine deaminases acting on RNA 1 (ADAR1).ResultsCircNEIL3 was upregulated in PDAC and promoted the progression of PDAC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, circNEIL3 was shown to regulate the expression of ADAR1 by sponging miR-432-5p to induce RNA editing of glioma-associated oncogene 1 (GLI1), ultimately influencing cell cycle progression and promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in PDAC cells. Moreover, we discovered that the circNEIL3/miR-432-5p/ADAR1 axis was correlated with the PDAC clinical stage and overall survival of PDAC patients, while ADAR1 may reduce the biogenesis of circNEIL3.ConclusionsOur findings reveal that circNEIL3 facilitates the proliferation and metastasis of PDAC through the circNEIL3/miR-432-5p/ADAR1/GLI1/cell cycle and EMT axis and that its expression is regulated by ADAR1 through a negative feedback loop. Therefore, circNEIL3 may serve as a prognostic marker and a therapeutic target for PDAC.

【 授权许可】

CC BY