CircFLNA Acts as a Sponge of miR-646 to Facilitate the Proliferation, Metastasis, Glycolysis, and Apoptosis Inhibition of Gastric Cancer by Targeting PFKFB2

BACKGROUND: Many studies have confirmed that circular (circRNA) is involved in the development of gastric cancer (GC). However, the role of circFLNA in the progression of GC remains unclear. METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the relative expression of circFLNA, microRNA (miR)-646 and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2, 6-biphosphatase 2 (PFKFB2). Cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) assay, transwell assay and flow cytometry were performed to determine the proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of cells, respectively. GC tumor xenograft models were built to confirm the function of circFLNA silencing on GC tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, the lactate production, glucose consumption, ATP level and glucose uptake were detected to assess the glycolysis of cells. Then, the interaction between miR-646 and circFLNA or PFKFB2 was confirmed using dual-luciferase reporter assay. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay was used to verify the interaction between miR-646 and circFLNA further. In addition, Western blot (WB) analysis was employed to detect the relative protein expression of PFKFB2. RESULTS: Our results found that circFLNA was upregulated in GC tissues and cells. Silencing of circFLNA could suppress the proliferation, migration, invasion, glycolysis, and enhance the apoptosis of GC cells. Also, circFLNA knockdown reduced GC tumor volume and weight in vivo. Further experiments revealed that circFLNA could sponge miR-646, and miR-646 could target PFKFB2. The rescue experiments indicated that miR-646 inhibitor could reverse the suppressive effect of circFLNA silencing on GC progression, and PFKFB2 overexpression also could invert the inhibition effect of miR-646 on GC progression. CONCLUSION: Our data concluded that circFLNA played a pro-cancer role in GC, which suggested that circFLNA might be a potential biomarker for GC treatment.