Circular RNA circSHPRH inhibits the malignant behaviors of bladder cancer by regulating the miR-942/BARX2 pathway

Bladder cancer (BCa) is one of the most common tumors of the genitourinary system. However, the detailed molecular mechanism of BCa progression is still unclear. Recently, an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a critical role in the tumorigenesis and progression of BCa. In this article, we showed that circSHPRH expression was obviously decreased in BCa tissues, compared with adjacent normal tissues. Moreover, a low circSHPRH level was positively correlated with a high grade, a high pathological stage, lymphatic metastasis and an unfavorable prognosis for BCa patients. Cell function studies indicated that silencing circSHPRH dramatically increased the proliferation, migration and invasion of BCa cells. Animal experiments revealed that circSHPRH overexpression repressed tumor growth. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that circSHPRH could combine with miR-942 and serve as a sponge of miR-942, which targets BARX2 in BCa cells. Rescue experiments showed that suppression of miR-942 or BARX2 overexpression could significantly abrogate the promoting effects of circSHPRH silencing on BCa cell proliferation and invasion. Furthermore, circSHPRH overexpression partly eliminated the suppressive effects of miR-942 on BARX2 expression. In addition, circSHPRH knockdown promoted activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by regulating BARX2. Taken together, our findings indicate that circSHPRH serves as a sponge of miR-942 to inhibit BCa progression by upregulating BARX2 expression, thereby inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.