Circ_ 0043278 SUPPRESSES MALIGNANT BEHAVIOR OF COLORECTAL CANCER CELLS BY TARGETING miR-6508-3p

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are emerging as pivotal modulators of cellular processes; however, their functions in colorectal cancer (CRC) are not fully understood. Circ_0043278 was identified as a downregulated circRNA in CRC patients by bioinformatics analysis of two patient cohorts. In addition, four predictive platforms were used to enrich miR-6508-3p as a putative microRNA (miRNA) target of circ_0043278. The interaction between circ_0043278 and miR-65083p was validated by dual-luciferase reporter assays, and their regulatory circuits were confirmed by RT-qPCR. In addition, the effects of circ_0043278 on CRC cell viability, migration, and invasion were assessed using MTT, colony formation, and transwell assays. Increasing the level of circ_0043278 reduced the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCT-116 and SW480 cells. However, replenishment of miR-6508-3p alleviated the inhibitory effects of circ_0043278 on cell viability, migration and invasion. This indicated that the tumor inhibitory effects of circ_0043278 were highly dependent on miR-6508-3p. These findings indicated that circ_0043278 mitigated CRC cell growth, migration, and invasion via targeting miR-6508-3p.