Potential Role of circPVT1 as a proliferative factor and treatment target in esophageal carcinoma
Authors: Peng Zhang
Zimo Li
Rongrong Zhong
Ting Mo
Zhuozhi Chen
Journal: Cancer Cell International (2019)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: Apoptosis; Cancer; Esophageal carcinoma; TE-10; circPVT1
Affiliations: 1Department of Geriatrics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, 300052 People's Republic of China., Tianjin Geriatrics Institute, Tianjin, 300052 People's Republic of China., 3The School of Life Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China., 4The School of Graduate, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300072 People's Republic of China., 5Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Anshan Road 154, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052 People's Republic of China.

Abstract:  Background: Many circRNAs have been reported to play important roles in cancer development and have the potential to serve as a novel class of biomarkers for clinical diagnosis. However, the role of circRNAs in esophageal carcinoma (EC) remains unclear. In the current study, we investigated the potential role of circPVT1 in esophageal carcinoma. Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to detect circPVT1 levels. CircPVT1-specific siRNA or plasmids were used to knock down or overexpression the target RNA. Hoechst Staining was implemented to evaluate the ratio of cell apoptosis. Transwell migration assays were carried out to study the effects of circPVT1 on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell invasion. RegRNA 2.0 was used for bioinformatics analysis. The expression levels of Pax-4, Pax-6, PPARα and PPAR-γ were assessed using Western blot. Results: In the present study, we demonstrated a significant up-regulation of circPVT1 levels in EC tissues and cancer cell lines. The levels of circPVT1 decreased significantly when the cells were maintained to over-confluence. These results suggested a potential role for circPVT1 in cell proliferation. In addition, overexpressing circPVT1 in TE-10 cell promoted invasive ability of cancer cell. In contrast, siRNA knockdown of circPVT1 inhibited this phenomenon, leading to increased apoptosis levels of TE-10 cell. What's more, miR-4663 had the effect of inhibiting tumor growth by downregulated Paxs and upregulated PPARs. Whereas, after the addition of circPVT1, this effect no longer worked, suggesting that circPVT1 may affect the malignancy of the tumor by affecting miRNA and regulating the levels of Paxs and PPARs. Conclusions: Collectively, our study reveals a critical role for circPVT1 in esophageal carcinoma, which may provide new insights of this circRNA as a biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment target of EC. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Fig 3 C D share an area, although they were labeled as siRNA-1 and -2. ![file] , 
 A control band in this paper seems to also appear in a concurrently published paper by different authors in a different journal. Details below. Figure 3D, Bioscience Reports (2019), doi: 10.1042 bsr20190696, Received: 22 March 2019, discussed here: https: pubpeer.com publications B5B0BCC1C5852986835D054B6B80E9 Figure 4A, Cancer Cell International (2019), doi: 10.1186 s12935-019-0985-9, Received: 21 March 2019, discussed here: https: pubpeer.com publications 6D5C2D732980D513CA0F32665586EE In addition to this issue, both papers also have other image concerns. I will notify both journals. *** ![file] ,