CircRNA_069718 promotes cell proliferation and invasion in triple-negative breast cancer by activating Wnt/β-catenin pathway

J. Zhang, H.-D. Xu, X.-J. Xing, Z.-T. Liang, Z.-H. Xia, Y. Zhao

Department of General Surgery, Shidong Hospital, Shanghai, China. tliu1973@sina.com

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• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play critical roles in tumorigenesis. In the present study, we aimed to explore the potential regulatory mechanism of circRNA_069718 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
PATIENTS AND METHODS: CircRNA_069718 expression levels in TNBC tissues and cell lines were determined by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). In vitro function assays were used to determine the functional roles of circRNA_069718 in TNBC and were explored by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, colony formation assay, transwell assay, and flow cytometric analysis. QRT-PCR and Western blot were used to explore the effects of circRNA_0023642 on the expression of Wnt/β-catenin pathway-related genes.
RESULTS: We found that circRNA_069718 expression was significantly increased in TNBC tissues and cell lines. High circRNA_069718 expression was significantly correlated with advanced TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, and poor overall survival of TNBC patients. Functionally, we showed that circRNA_069718 inhibition significantly reduced TNBC cells proliferation and invasion ability in vitro. Mechanically, we found that circRNA_069718 inhibition reduced the expression levels of Wnt/β-catenin pathway-related genes (β-catenin, c-myc, and cyclin D1).
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that circRNA_069718 promoted TNBC progression via Wnt/β-catenin pathway and could serve as a novel therapeutic target for TNBC treatment.

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