Circular RNA_0074027 participates in cell proliferation, apoptosis and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells through regulation of miR-525-3p

The present study aimed to elucidate the biological function of circular RNAs (circRNA) 0074027 in colorectal cancer (CRC). The expression of circRNA-0074027 in CRC tissues and cells was determined by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. The in vitro experiments, including Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine assay, flow cytometry and Transwell assay, were applied to evaluate cell proliferation, apoptosis and metastasis ability respectively following downregulation of circRNA-0074027. The correlation between circRNA-0074027 and micro (mi)RNA-525-3p was determined via dual-luciferase reporter assay. Finally, western blotting was used to explore the possible regulatory mechanism. CircRNA-0074027 was upregulated in CRC tissues, while miR-525-3p expression was reduced. In addition, patients with CRC and circRNA-0074027 overexpression were more likely to have low tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis and advanced TMN stage. Deletion of circRNA-0074027 could suppress cell proliferation and metastasis through upregulating p53 expression and forbidding epithelial-mesenchymal transition signaling pathway. The addition of miRNA-525-3p inhibitors could reverse the anti-tumor effects induced by the deletion of circRNA-0074027. The downregulation of cirRNA_0074027 inhibited tumor progression via sponging miR-525-3p, which could be a promising treatment bio-marker for CRC.