Open Access

ARTICLE

CircUCP2 promotes the tumor progression of non-small cell lung cancer through the miR-149/UCP2 pathway

by WEI DU¹, FANG YIN¹, YATING ZHONG¹, MINJIE LUO¹, ZHEN WANG², PENG LIN², QING LIU^2,*, HAN YANG^2,*

1 Department of Pathology, The First People’s Hospital of Changde City, Changde, 415000, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, 510000, China

* Corresponding Authors: QING LIU. Email: ; HAN YANG. Email:

Oncology Research 2023, 31(6), 929-936. https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2023.030611

Received 14 April 2023; Accepted 26 May 2023; Issue published 15 September 2023

Abstract

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a highly lethal cancer, and better treatments are urgently needed. Many studies have implicated circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the progression of multiple malignant tumors. Nonetheless, the functions of circRNAs in NSCLC remain unclear. To study new targets for the treatment of NSCLC, circRNA expression profiling was performed on NSCLC tissues and para-carcinoma nonmalignant tissues. RNA was isolated and used for circRNA sequencing. Biological studies were performed in vitro and in vivo to determine the functions of circRNAs in NSCLC, including their functions in cell proliferation and migration. How circRNAs function in NSCLC was explored to clarify the underlying regulatory mechanisms. We found that circUCP2 was upregulated in NSCLC tissues compared with neighboring nonmalignant tissues. circUCP2 promoted the proliferation and metastasis of NSCLC cells. circUCP2 promoted NSCLC progression by sponging miR-149 and upregulating UCP2. The circUCP2/miR-149/UCP2 axis accelerates the progression of NSCLC, and circUCP2 may therefore be a novel diagnostic biomarker for the progression of NSCLC.

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