CircPTPRA blocks the recognition of RNA N(6)-methyladenosine through interacting with IGF2BP1 to suppress bladder cancer progression

BACKGROUND: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been found to have significant impacts on bladder cancer (BC) progression through various mechanisms. In this study, we aimed to identify novel circRNAs that regulate the function of IGF2BP1, a key m(6)A reader, and explore the regulatory mechanisms and clinical significances in BC. METHODS: Firstly, the clinical role of IGF2BP1 in BC was studied. Then, RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (RIP-seq) analysis was performed to identify the circRNAs interacted with IGF2BP1 in BC cells. The overall biological roles of IGF2BP1 and the candidate circPTPRA were investigated in both BC cell lines and animal xenograft studies. Subsequently, we evaluated the regulation effects of circPTPRA on IGF2BP1 and screened out its target genes through RNA sequencing. Finally, we explored the underlying molecular mechanisms that circPTPRA might act as a blocker in recognition of m(6)A. RESULTS: We demonstrated that IGF2BP1 was predominantly binded with circPTPRA in the cytoplasm in BC cells. Ectopic expression of circPTPRA abolished the promotion of cell proliferation, migration and invasion of BC cells induced by IGF2BP1. Importantly, circPTPRA downregulated IGF2BP1-regulation of MYC and FSCN1 expression via interacting with IGF2BP1. Moreover, the recognition of m(6)A-modified RNAs mediated by IGF2BP1 was partly disturbed by circPTPRA through its interaction with KH domains of IGF2BP1. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies exonic circular circPTPRA as a new tumor suppressor that inhibits cancer progression through endogenous blocking the recognition of IGF2BP1 to m(6)A-modified RNAs, indicating that circPTPRA may serve as an exploitable therapeutic target for patients with BC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12943-021-01359-x.