Circ_0000064 promotes high glucose-induced renal tubular epithelial cells injury to facilitate diabetic nephropathy progression through miR-532-3p/ROCK1 axis

BACKGROUND: Circular RNA (circRNA) has been shown to mediate diabetic nephropathy (DN) development by regulating renal tubular epithelial cells (RTECs) injury. However, the role and mechanism of circ_0000064 in high glucose (HG)-induced RTECs injury have not been fully elucidated. METHODS: Human RTECs (HK-2) were exposed to HG to induce cell injury. Cell oxidative stress was assessed by detecting the levels of oxidative stress-markers. Moreover, cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined by CCK8 assay, EDU assay and flow cytometry. The protein levels of proliferation markers, apoptosis markers and Rho-associated coiled-coil-containing kinase 1 (ROCK1) were measured using western blot analysis. Furthermore, quantitative real-time PCR was performed to assess the expression of circ_0000064, microRNA (miR)-532-3p and ROCK1. The interaction between miR-532-3p and circ_0000064 or ROCK1 was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA pull-down assay. RESULTS: Our results revealed that HG treatment could promote HK-2 cells oxidative stress, apoptosis, fibrosis, and inhibit proliferation. Circ_0000064 expression was increased in the serum of DN patients and HG-induced HK-2 cells, and silenced circ_0000064 could relieve HG-induced HK-2 cells injury. MiR-532-3p could be sponged by circ_0000064, and its overexpression also alleviated HG-induced HK-2 cells injury. Besides, the regulation of circ_0000064 knockdown on HG-induced HK-2 cells injury could be reversed by miR-532-3p inhibitor. Additionally, ROCK1 was a target of miR-532-3p, and its expression was inhibited by circ_0000064 knockdown. The inhibition effect of circ_0000064 knockdown on HG-induced HK-2 cells injury also could be reversed by overexpressing ROCK1. CONCLUSION: In summary, circ_0000064 knockdown might alleviate HG-induced HK-2 cells injury via regulating the miR-532-3p/ROCK1 axis, which provided a new perspective for DN treatment. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12902-022-00968-x.