circRAE1 promotes colorectal cancer cell migration and invasion through modulating miR-338-3p/TYRO3 axis

Abstract

Background: Growing evidences have revealed that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) including circular RNAs (circRNAs) involve in numerous carcinogenesis. However, the roles of circRNAs in the cancer biology of colorectal cancer (CRC) remain vague. Methods: qRT-PCR and western-blot were used to detecte the circRAE1 levels in CRC tissues and CRC cell lines.,Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were detected using wound healing assays, and transwell assays. The interaction between circRAE1 and miR-338-3p and TRYO3 was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assays. Results: We uncovered that a novel circRNA Hsa_circ_0060967 (also known as circRAE1) was remarkably increased in CRC tissues, and high circRAE1 level was positively associated with advanced tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, and tumor size. Loss-of-function assay indicated that circRAE1 accelerated cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Besides, miR-338-3p , lowly expressed in CRC tissues and CRC cell lines. dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that circRAE1 could sponge miR-338-3p, which targeted TRYO3 in CRC cells. Furthermore, overexpression of circRAE1 could recue the impaired migration and invasion triggered by miR-338-3p mimics or si-TYRO3 in CRC cells and vice versa. Conclusion : we figured out the network of circRAE1, miR-338-3p, and TYRO3 in CRC cells and revealed that increased circRAE1 served as an oncogene through sponging miR-338-3p, resulting in upregulated TYRO3 expression, which suggested that circRAE1 would be a potential therapeutic target and diagnostic marker for CRC treatment.