Corin is regulated by circ-0012397/miR-200a-3p and inhibits the oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced apoptosis of SHSY5Y neuroblastoma cells

BACKGROUND: As a type II transmembrane serine protease, corin plays a role in several important physiological and pathological processes. We conducted a bioinformatics analysis to explore the roles of both corin and circ-0012397/miR-200a-3p in ischemic stroke. METHODS: We established an in vitro model using oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced SHSY5Y cells. The proliferation and apoptosis of SHSY5Y cells was determined using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry/Hoechst 33258 staining, respectively. The RNA and protein level was tested using Real Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot, respectively. The regulatory relationship of corin and circ-0012397/miR-200a-3p were detected by dual-luciferase reporter assays. RESULTS: We found that OGD downregulated the expression of corin in a time-dependent manner; this change was inversely proportional to the rate of apoptosis of the SHSY5Y cells. Further, high expression levels of corin enhanced the proliferation of SHSY5Y cells and inhibited the apoptosis of SHSY5Y cells by downregulating the expression of cleaved caspase-3, B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2)-associated death promoter, extracellular-regulated protein kinase (ERK), and protein 38 (p38), and upregulated the expression of Bcl-2. Further, the dual-luciferase reporter assays and RT-qPCR showed that corin expression was regulated by circ-0012397/miR-200a-3p. Corin expression was affected by changes in circ-0012397 and miR-200a-3p expression, which were overexpressed or inhibited. Further, corin exerted different regulatory effects on apoptosis signaling-related proteins, including AD Bcl-2, cleaved caspase-3, ERK, and p38, under different expression levels of circ-0012397 and miR-200a-3p. CONCLUSIONS: Corin promotes the cell proliferation and inhibits OGD-induced apoptosis of SHSY5Y cells, and that its expression is regulated by circ-0012397/miR-200a-3p. Thus, corin may be a potential target for ischemic stroke patients.