CircRNA_100269 is downregulated in gastric cancer and suppresses tumor cell growth by targeting miR-630

Although CircRNA_100269 is a biomarker used to predict cancer recurrence, its expression and function in gastric cancer (GC) remain unknown. In this study, the expression of circRNA_100269 and its potential downstream miRNA targets were investigated. The molecular function and regulatory mechanism of circRNA_100269 in GC cell lines were also elucidated. The expression levels of circRNA_100269 and its linear isomer LPHN2 mRNA were found to be downregulated (p<0.01) in GC tissues. The target miRNA was predicted to be miR-630, whose expression was upregulated (p<0.01) and found to be negatively correlated with that of circRNA_100269 (r = −0.688) in GC tissues. Moreover, direct interaction of circRNA_100269 and miR-630 was confirmed through dual-luciferase assays. Overexpressing the circRNA_100269 plasmid inhibited cell proliferation (p<0.05). Furthermore, transfection of miR-630 mimics into cell lines overexpressing circRNA_100269 blocked the function of circRNA_100269 (p<0.05). Thus, circRNA_100269 level was downregulated in GC and correlated negatively with that of miR-630. Taken together, our results suggest that circRNA_100269 and miR-630 comprise a novel pathway that regulates proliferation of GC cells.