Circular RNA circ-CCAC1 Facilitates Adrenocortical Carcinoma Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion through Regulating the miR-514a-5pC22orf46 Axis

الملخص EN

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare but clinically aggressive endocrine malignancy.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) were found to play key roles in tumorigenesis.

In the current study, we aimed to investigate the functions and mechanisms of a novel circRNA, circ-CCAC1, in ACC cells.

circ-CCAC1 expression levels in ACC tissue specimens and cell lines were evaluated by RT-qPCR.

Kaplan-Meier analysis was applied to explore the relationship between circ-CCAC1 and patients’ prognosis.

Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), colony formation, acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) double fluorescence staining, and Transwell assays were performed to evaluate the functions of circ-CCAC1 in ACC cells.

Bioinformatics analysis and a dual-luciferase reporter assay were utilized to explore the mechanisms of circ-CCAC1.

As a result, circ-CCAC1 was overexpressed in ACC tissue samples and cell lines and correlated with poor prognosis.

Gain- and loss-of-function tests demonstrated that circ-CCAC1 acted as an oncogene in ACC.

What is more, circ-CCAC1 enhanced C22orf46 expression by sponging miR-514a-5p in ACC cells.

A rescue assay illustrated that circ-CCAC1 facilitated ACC progression through miR-514a-5p/C22orf46 signaling.

To sum up, we identified a novel circRNA, circ-CCAC1, which may be used as a potential therapeutic target for ACC.