Comprehensive Profile of Differentially Expressed Circular RNAs Reveals That Hsa_circ_0000069 is Upregulated and Promotes Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion in Colorectal Cancer

Background: Nowadays, despite great progress in cancer research, the detailed mechanisms of colorectal cancer (CRC) are still poorly understood. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a new star of the non-coding RNA network, have been identified as critical regulators in various cancers, including CRC.

Methods And Results: In this study, by using unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis, a novel dysregulated circRNA, hsa_circ_0000069, was found. The expression of hsa_circ_0000069 was measured in 30 paired CRC tissues and adjacent noncancerous tissues using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. A high expression of hsa_circ_0000069 was observed in CRC tissues and correlated with patients' age and tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) stage (<0.05). Furthermore, by using specifically designed siRNAs in CRC cells, a functional analysis was performed which revealed that hsa_circ_0000069 knockdown could notably inhibit cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and induce G0/G1 phase arrest of cell cycle in vitro.

Conclusion: This study's findings are the first to demonstrate that hsa_circ_0000069, an important regulator in cancer progression, could be a promising target in the diagnosis and therapy in colorectal cancer.