Hsa_circ_0026134 expression promoted TRIM25- and IGF2BP3-mediated hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation and invasion via sponging miR-127-5p

Abstract Increasing evidence shows that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a regulatory role in cancer. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the characteristics and effects of hsa_circ_0026134 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We investigated hsa_circ_0026134 expression in 20 pairs of clinical tissues from HCC patients; expression of hsa_circ_0026134 in different cell lines; effect of hsa_circ_0026134 on proliferation and invasion of HCC cell lines; and the regulatory mechanisms and interactions among hsa_circ_0026134, miR-127-5p, tripartite motif-containing protein 25 (TRIM25) and insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding protein 3 (IGF2BP3). hsa_circ_0026134 expression was increased in HCC samples and cell lines. Down-regulation of hsa_circ_0026134 attenuated HCC cell proliferation and metastatic properties. Micro (mi)RNA (miR)-127-5p was sponged by hsa_circ_0026134. Rescue experiments indicated that inhibition of miR-127-5p expression promoted cell proliferation and invasion even after hsa_circ_0026134 silencing. TRIM25 and IGF2BP3 were targets of miR-127-5p. Overexpression of TRIM25 or IGF2BP3 promoted cell proliferation and invasion in cells overexpressing miR-127-5p. Down-regulation of hsa_circ_0026134 suppressed TRIM25- and IGF2BP3-mediated HCC cell proliferation and invasion via promotion of miR-127-5p expression, which have been confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. The present study provides a new treatment target for HCC.