scholarly journals Circular RNAs in renal cell carcinoma: implications for tumorigenesis, diagnosis, and therapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Wang ◽  
Yunjing Zhang ◽  
Ping Wang ◽  
Xianghui Fu ◽  
Weiqiang Lin

Abstract Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common malignant kidney tumor and has a high incidence rate. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are noncoding RNAs with widespread distribution and diverse cellular functions. They are highly stable and have organ- and tissue-specific expression patterns. CircRNAs have essential functions as microRNA sponges, RNA-binding protein- and transcriptional regulators, and protein translation templates. Recent reports have shown that circRNAs are abnormally expressed in RCC and act as important regulators of RCC carcinogenesis and progression. Moreover, circRNAs have emerged as potential biomarkers for RCC diagnosis and prognosis and targets for developing new treatments. However, further studies are needed to better understand the functions of circRNAs in RCC. In this review, we summarize and discuss the recent research progress on RCC-associated circRNAs, with a focus on their potential for RCC diagnosis and targeted therapy.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongyuan Liu ◽  
Ming Li

AbstractCircular RNAs (circRNAs) are a new class of long non-coding RNAs, that results from a special type of alternative splicing referred to as back-splicing. They are widely distributed in eukaryotic cells and demonstrate tissue-specific expression patterns in humans. CircRNAs actively participate in various important biological activities like gene transcription, pre-mRNA splicing, translation, sponging miRNA and proteins, etc. With such diverse biological functions, circRNAs not only play a crucial role in normal human physiology, as well as in multiple diseases, including cancer. In this review, we summarized our current understanding of circRNAs and their role in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common cancer of kidneys. Studies have shown that the expression level of several circRNAs are considerably varied in RCC samples and RCC cell lines suggesting the potential role of these circRNAs in RCC progression. Several circRNAs promote RCC development and progression mostly via the miRNA/target gene axis making them ideal candidates for novel anti-cancer therapy. Apart from these, there are a few circRNAs that are significantly downregulated in RCC and overexpression of these circRNAs leads to suppression of RCC growth. Differential expression patterns and novel functions of circRNAs in RCC suggest that circRNAs can be utilized as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for RCC therapy. However, our current understanding of the role of circRNA in RCC is still in its infancy and much comprehensive research is needed to achieve clinical translation of circRNAs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in developing effective treatment options for RCC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junjie Cen ◽  
Yanping Liang ◽  
Yong Huang ◽  
Yihui Pan ◽  
Guannan Shu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background There is increasing evidence that circular RNAs (circRNAs) have significant regulatory roles in cancer development and progression; however, the expression patterns and biological functions of circRNAs in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remain largely elusive. Method Bioinformatics methods were applied to screen for circRNAs differentially expressed in RCC. Analysis of online circRNAs microarray datasets and our own patient cohort indicated that circSDHC (hsa_circ_0015004) had a potential oncogenic role in RCC. Subsequently, circSDHC expression was measured in RCC tissues and cell lines by qPCR assay, and the prognostic value of circSDHC evaluated. Further, a series of functional in vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to assess the effects of circSDHC on RCC proliferation and metastasis. RNA pull-down assay, luciferase reporter and fluorescent in situ hybridization assays were used to confirm the interactions between circSDHC, miR-127-3p and its target genes. Results Clinically, high circSDHC expression was correlated with advanced TNM stage and poor survival in patients with RCC. Further, circSDHC promoted tumor cell proliferation and invasion, both in vivo and in vitro. Analysis of the mechanism underlying the effects of circSDHC in RCC demonstrated that it binds competitively to miR-127-3p and prevents its suppression of a downstream gene, CDKN3, and the E2F1 pathway, thereby leading to RCC malignant progression. Furthermore, knockdown of circSDHC caused decreased CDKN3 expression and E2F1 pathway inhibition, which could be rescued by treatment with an miR-127-3p inhibitor. Conclusion Our data indicates, for the first time, an essential role for the circSDHC/miR-127-3p/CDKN3/E2F1 axis in RCC progression. Thus, circSDHC has potential to be a new therapeutic target in patients with RCC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiyan Shen ◽  
Guomin Luo ◽  
Qingjuan Chen

AbstractApproximately 338,000 patients are diagnosed with kidney cancer worldwide each year, and renal cell carcinoma (RCC), which is derived from renal epithelium, accounts for more than ninety percent of the malignancy. Next generation RNA sequencing has enabled the identification of novel long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the past 10 years. Recent studies have provided extensive evidence that lncRNAs bind to chromatin modification proteins, transcription factors, RNA-binding proteins and microRNAs, and thereby modulate gene expression through regulating chromatin status, gene transcription, pre-mRNA splicing, mRNA decay and stability, protein translation and stability. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that over-expression of oncogenic lncRNAs and silencing of tumor suppressive lncRNAs are a common feature of human RCC, and that aberrant lncRNA expression is a marker for poor patient prognosis, and is essential for the initiation and progression of RCC. Because lncRNAs, compared with mRNAs, are expressed in a tissue-specific manner, aberrantly expressed lncRNAs can be better targeted for the treatment of RCC through screening small molecule compounds which block the interaction between lncRNAs and their binding proteins or microRNAs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lichen Zhang ◽  
Deqiong Xie ◽  
Yonghua Lei ◽  
Aoli Na ◽  
Lei Zhu

Background: The poor outcome of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) necessitates new treatments. Cobimetinib is a MEK inhibitor and approved for the treatment of melanoma. This work investigated the efficacy of cobimetinib alone and in combination with anti-RCC drugs. Methods: Proliferation and apoptosis assays were performed, and combination index was analyzed on RCC cell lines (CaKi-2, 786-O, A-704, ACHN and A489) and xenograft models. Immunoblotting analysis was conducted to investigate the MAPK pathway. Results: Cobimetinib was active against RCC cells, with IC50 at 0.006–0.8μM, and acted synergistically with standard-of-care therapy. Cobimetinib at nontoxic doses prevented tumor formation, inhibited tumor growth and enhanced efficacy of 5-fluorouracil, sorafenib and sunitinib via suppressing Raf/MEK/ERK, leading to MAPK pathway inhibition. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the potent anti-RCC activity of cobimetinib and its synergism with RCC standard-of-care drugs, and confirm the underlying mechanism of the action of cobimetinib.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Ling Gao ◽  
Xian Shao ◽  
Qingqing Yue ◽  
Weifei Wu ◽  
Xuejuan Yang ◽  
...  

Accumulating evidence indicates that the dysregulation of circular RNAs (circRNAs) contributes to tumor progression; however, the regulatory functions of circRNAs in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remain largely unknown. In this study, the function and underlying mechanism of circAMOTL1L in RCC progression were explored. qRT-PCR showed the downregulation of circAMOTL1L in RCC tissues and cell lines. The decrease in circAMOTL1L expression correlated with the tumor stage, metastasis, and poor prognosis in patients with RCC. Functional experiments revealed that circAMOTL1L inhibited cell proliferation and increased apoptosis in RCC cells. Subcutaneous implantation with circAMOTL1L-overexpressing cells in nude mice decreased the growth ability of the xenograft tumors. Mechanistically, circAMOTL1L served as a sponge for miR-92a-2-5p in upregulating KLLN (killin, p53-regulated DNA replication inhibitor) expression validated by bioinformatics analysis, oligo pull-down, and luciferase assays. Further, reinforcing the circAMOTL1L–miR-92a-2-5p–KLLN axis greatly reduced the growth of RCC in vivo. Conclusively, our findings demonstrate that circAMOTL1L has an antioncogenic role in RCC growth by modulating the miR-92a-2-5p–KLLN pathway. Thus, targeting the novel circAMOTL1L–miR-92a-2-5p–KLLN regulatory axis might provide a therapeutic strategy for RCC.


Author(s):  
Jiafu Feng ◽  
Yongcan Guo ◽  
Yuanmeng Li ◽  
Jiawei Zeng ◽  
Yaodong Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common urological cancer. circular RNAs (circRNAs) is involved in the development of various types of cancers. However, the roles and underlying mechanisms of circRNAs in RCC are not fully elucidated. Herein, we aimed to examine the potential effect of circ_001287 on RCC progression. Materials and Methods Microarray-based gene expression profiling of RCC was initially employed in order to identify differentially expressed genes. Next, the expression of circ_001287 was examined, and the cell line with the highest circ_001287 expression was selected for subsequent investigation. The interaction among circ_001287, miR-144, and CEP55 was identified by conducting luciferase reporter assay, RNA-pull down, RIP, RT-qPCR and FISH. The effect of circ_001287 on proliferative, invasive and migratory capacities as well as tumorigenicity of transfected cells in mice was examined using gain- and loss-of-function experiments. Results circ_001287 and CEP55 were highly expressed while miR-144 was decreased in RCC tissues and cell lines. circ_001287 can up-regulate CEP55 by binding to miR-144, which resulted in increased proliferative, invasive and migratory capacities and tumor growth in vivo. In addition, down-regulation of miR-144 was also observed to promote these biological activities. Conclusions Overall, these results elucidate a new mechanism for circ_001287 in RCC development and provide a potential therapeutic target for RCC patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 6591-6600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenpeng Zhu ◽  
Anbang He ◽  
Lanruo Lin ◽  
Chunru Xu ◽  
Tianyu Cai ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 153303382091428
Author(s):  
Kecheng Li ◽  
Cheng-Liang Wan ◽  
Yan Guo

Renal cell carcinoma is one of the most common kidney cancer, which accounts almost 90% of the adult renal malignancies worldwide. In recent years, a new class of endogenous noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs, exert important roles in cell function and certain types of pathological responses, especially in cancers, generally by acting as a microRNA sponge. Circular RNAs could act as sponge to regulate the microRNA and the target genes. However, the knowledge about circular RNAs in renal cell carcinoma remains unclear so far. In the research, we selected a highly expressed novel circular RNAs named circMTO1 in renal cell carcinomas. We investigated the roles of circMTO1 and found that circMTO1 overexpression could suppress cell proliferation and metastases in both A497 and 786-O renal cancer cells, while silencing of circMTO1 could promote the progression in SN12C and OS-RC-2 renal cancer cells. The study showed that circMTO1 acted as miR9 and miR223 sponge and inhibited their levels. Furthermore, silencing of circMTO1 in renal cell carcinoma could downregulate LMX1A, the target of miR-9, resulting in the promotion of renal cell carcinoma cell proliferation and invasion. In addition, LMX1A expression suppression induced by transfection of miR9 mimics confirmed that miR9 exerted its function in renal cell carcinoma by regulating LMX1A expression. What’s more, miR9 inhibitor and LMX1A overexpression could block the tumor-promoting effect of circMTO1 silencing. In conclusion, circMTO1 suppresses renal cell carcinoma progression by circMTO1/miR9/ LMX1A, indicating that circMTO1 may be a potential target in renal cell carcinoma therapy.


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