Contribution of dysregulated circRNA_100876 to proliferation and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Sai Cao,1,* Guohao Chen,2,* Liumei Yan,3,* Libo Li,2 Xianying Huang4 1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangdong 510515, China; 2Department of General Surgery, Dongguan People’s Hospital, Dongguan 523000, China; 3Department of Gastroenterology, Wuzhou Red Cross Hospital, Wuzhou 543000, China; 4Department of Vascular Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangdong 510515, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: Accumulating evidence demonstrates that circRNAs regulate diverse cellular processes and cancer progression. However, it remains unclear whether circRNAs play any functional role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).Materials and methods: The significance of circRNA_100876 in ESCC was analyzed by studying circRNA_100876 expression in ESCC tissues and the association between circRNA_100876 expression and clinicopathologic parameters. The biological effects of circRNA_100876 knockdown by lentivirus-mediated siRNAs on cell proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, and migration were investigated in vitro and in vivo.Results: CircRNA_100876 expression was upregulated (P<0.05) and was negatively correlated with survival outcome (P<0.05) in ESCC. Inhibition of proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition progression was confirmed after circRNA_100876 depletion.Conclusion: Dysregulation of circRNA_100876 expression leads to poor prognosis in ESCC by accelerating cell proliferation and metastasis. Keywords: circRNA_100876, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, metastasis, epithelial–mesenchymal transitio