Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common type of lung cancer, characterized by a poor prognosis. In the last several years, more and more studies have demonstrated the significant roles played by circular RNAs (circRNAs) in different human tumors progression including NSCLC. The present study was to explore the mechanism of hsa_circ_101237 in regulating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Totally 303 NSCLC cases were enrolled. A549 and H1299 cells were transfected. Cells viability, migration and invasion were determined by CCK-8 assay and transwell experiment, respectively. Luciferase reporter gene assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay were performed. hsa_circ_101237, miR-490-3p and MAPK1 expression in tissues/cells were detected by qRT-PCR. The study found an elevation in the expression of Hsa_circRNA_101237 in both NSCLC tissues and cell line. High Hsa_circRNA_101237 expression predicted poor survival in NSCLC. Meanwhile, we found that hsa_ circRNA_101237 expression sponged miR-490-3p to enhance MAPK1 expression, thus significantly promoting NSCLC cell lines proliferation, migration, and invasion. MAPK1 restoration prevented NSCLC cells proliferation, migration, and invasion to be repressed due to hsa_circRNA_101237 knockdown. To sum up, as revealed by the study, hsa_circRNA_101237 promoted the expression of MAPK1 via miRNA-490-3p sponge, thus affecting the NSCLC as an important onco-circRNA. Lung cancer, characterized by a poor prognosis but a high morbidity, is a common malignant tumor, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are identified as the most common type of lung cancer (occupying about 85%) 1. As is well known, smoking is the main cause of NSCLC 2. As NSCLC does not show obvious clinical symptoms and the screening programs are not effective, most patients with NSCLC, once they are diagnosed, are at advanced stages with a poor prognosis 3. More and more clinical studies found that metastasis greatly hinders the treatment of NSCLC cancer; therefore, in-depth understanding the metastasis mechanisms is beneficial for effectively treating NSCLC. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a kind of non-coding RNAs with endogenous and conserve, forming a covalently closed continuous loop via back-splice without 3ʹ-end or 5ʹ-end 4. Due to the feature, circRNAs exhibit a lot of properties, and many properties were found not long ago. circRNAs have a special closed loop structure, making them able to resist the degradation medicated by exonuclease. On that account, they are more stable compared with most other linear RNAs, thus they can be used as a biomarker to effectively diagnose and treat cancers 5. circRNAs can interact with RNA-binding proteins, so as to regulate target gene expression 6. Besides, it has been indicated that circRNAs can be sinks for miRNAs, to control the function processed by miRNAs 7. Many human cancers see altered circRNA expression, and many researches have revealed the key role played by circR-NAs in the tumorigenesis. circRNA_101237, a new circRNA identified recently, whose encoding ge...