Circular RNA circLOC101928570 suppresses systemic lupus erythematosus progression by targeting the miR-150-5p/c-myb axis

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence supports the implication of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, little is known about the detailed mechanisms and roles of circRNAs in the pathogenesis of SLE. METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine the levels of circLOC101928570 and miR-150-5p in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of SLE. Overexpression and knockdown experiments were conducted to assess the effects of circLOC101928570. Fluorescence in situ hybridization, RNA immunoprecipitation, luciferase reporter assays, Western blot, flow cytometry analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the function of circLOC101928570. RESULTS: The results showed that the level of circLOC101928570 was significantly downregulated in SLE and correlated with the systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index. Functionally, circLOC101928570 acted as a miR-150-5p sponge to relieve the repressive effect on its target c-myb, which modulates the activation of immune inflammatory responses. CircLOC101928570 knockdown enhanced apoptosis. Moreover, circLOC101928570 promoted the transcriptional level of IL2RA by directly regulating the miR-150-5p/c-myb axis. CONCLUSION: Overall, our findings demonstrated that circLOC101928570 played a critical role in SLE. The downregulation of circLOC101928570 suppressed SLE progression through the miR-150-5p/c-myb/IL2RA axis. Our findings identified that circLOC101928570 serves as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and therapy of SLE. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-022-03748-2.