Circular RNA NEK6 contributes to the development of non-small-cell lung cancer by competitively binding with miR-382-5p to elevate BCAS2 expression at post-transcriptional level

BACKGROUND: Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the commonest type of lung cancer, which is one of most deadly cancers that possess high morbidity and mortality all over the world. The function of circular RNA NIMA related kinase 6 (circ_NEK6) in NSCLC is still unknown. Therefore, circ_NEK6 is worth studying in detail. METHODS: RT-qPCR and western blot assays were employed to detect gene expression. Colony formation, EdU, JC-1, flow cytometry, and Transwell assays were implemented to explore the function of circ_NEK6 on biological activities of NSCLC cells. Mechanism experiments were conducted to unveil the relationship among molecules. RESULTS: Circ_NEK6 expression was highly expressed in NSCLC tissues and cells. Functionally, the silencing of circ_NEK6 could effectively suppress NSCLC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Circ_NEK6 sequestered miR-382-5p to fortify the expression of breast carcinoma amplified sequence 2 (BCAS2) in NSCLC. Besides, BCAS2 had tumor-promoting function in NSCLC. Furthermore, the effects of down-regulated circ_NEK6 on the malignant behaviors of NSCLC cells were totally recovered by miR-382-5p inhibition or BCAS2 overexpression. CONCLUSIONS: Circ_NEK6 served as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) of BCAS2 by absorbing miR-382-5p, which may be treated as a novel promising target for the treatment of NSCLC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12890-021-01617-0.