Circadian gene ARNTL initiates circGUCY1A2 transcription to suppress non-small cell lung cancer progression via miR-200c-3p/PTEN signaling

BACKGROUND: As a subclass of endogenous stable noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs are beginning to be appreciated for their potential as tumor therapeutics. However, the functions and mechanisms by which circRNAs exert protective functions in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain largely elusive. METHODS: The prognostic role of circGUCY1A2 was explored in lung adenocarcinoma specimens. The overexpressed and knockdown plasmids were used to evaluate the effect of circGUCY1A2 on NSCLC cell proliferation and apoptosis efficacy. Luciferase reporter system is used to prove that circGUCY1A2 could bind to miRNA. Chip-PCR was used to prove that circGUCY1A2 could be initiated by transcription factors ARNTL. Subcutaneous tumorigenicity grafts models were established to validate findings in vivo. RESULTS: The expression of circGUCY1A2 were significantly reduced (P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with tumor size (P < 0.05) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). CircGUCY1A2 upregulation promoted apoptosis and inhibits cell proliferation and growth of subcutaneous tumorigenicity grafts in nude mice (P < 0.01). In addition, intra-tumor injection of pLCDH-circGUCY1A2 inhibited tumor growth in patient-derived NSCLC xenograft models (PDX). Mechanism studies showed that circGUCY1A2 could act as a sponge to competitively bind miR-200c-3p, promote PTEN expression, and thereby inhibit PI3K/AKT pathway. In addition, we found that the circadian gene ARNTL, which was reduced in NSCLC and prolonged the overall survival of patients, could bind to the promoter of circGUCY1A2, thereby increasing its expression. CONCLUSIONS: This study is an original demonstration that ARNTL can inhibit the development of lung adenocarcinoma through the circGUCY1A2/miR-200c-3p/PTEN axis, and this finding provides potential targets and therapeutic approaches for the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-023-02791-1.