CircYTHDF3 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression through modulating miR-136-5p/CBX4/ VEGF axis

Abstract

Abstract Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been widely reported to participate in diverse biological pathways in cancers. However, the function of circRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains some unclear. In the present study, we screened the expression profile of circRNAs in HCC and identified that circYTHDF3 (hsa_circ_0084620) was dramatically upregulated in HCC tissues and cell lines. Patients with high-expression circYTHDF3 performed a poor prognosis. CircYTHDF3 could facilitate proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cell. Furthermore, circYTHDF3 could regulate CBX4 expression though competitive binding with miR-136-5p and inhibited the effect of miR-136-5p on proliferation, migration, invasion of HCC cells. Moreover, circYTHDF3 down-expression inhibited the growth, lung metastasis and angiogenesis of HCC tumors in vivo. Taken together, these findings indicated that circYTHDF3 might function as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to promote HCC progression by targeting miR-136-5p/CBX4/VEGF pathway. Therefore, circYTHDF3 could serve as a potential prognostic indicator for HCC and a therapeutic target for HCC treatment.