CircCEMIP promotes anoikis-resistance by enhancing protective autophagy in prostate cancer cells

BACKGROUND: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are essential participants in the development and progression of various malignant tumors. Previous studies have shown that cell migration-inducing protein (CEMIP) accelerates prostate cancer (PCa) anoikis resistance (AR) by activating autophagy. This study focused on the effect of circCEMIP on PCa metastasis. METHODS: This study gradually revealed the role of circ_0004585 in PCa anoikis resistance via quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis, western blotting, pull-down assays, and dual fluorescence reporter assays. RESULTS: Functionally, circ_0004585 promoted PCa cells invasion and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, circ_0004585 directly interacted with miR-1248 to upregulate target gene expression. Furthermore, target prediction and dual-luciferase reporter assays identified transmembrane 9 superfamily member 4 (TM9SF4) as a potential miR-1248 target. Pathway analysis revealed that TM9SF4 activated autophagy to promote PCa cells anoikis resistance via mTOR phosphorylation. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrated that circ_0004585 played an oncogenic role during PCa invasion and metastasis by targeting the miR-1248/TM9SF4 axis while providing new insight into therapeutic strategy development for metastatic PCa. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-022-02381-7.