CircFOXK2 Promotes Growth and Metastasis of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Complexing with RNA-Binding Proteins and Sponging MiR-942
- 1 June 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Cancer Research
- Vol. 80 (11), 2138-2149
- https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.can-19-3268
Abstract
The detailed biological functions of circular RNA (circRNA) are largely unexplored. Using circRNA sequencing, we identified 169 differentially expressed circRNA in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells compared to non-tumor human pancreatic ductal epithelial (HPDE) cells. Among them, circFOXK2 was validated with significant upregulation in PDAC cells and 63 % of primary tumors (53 out of 84). circFOXK2 promoted cell growth, migration, and invasion and was involved in cell cycle progression and apoptosis. circFOXK2 contained multiple miRNA binding sites, functioning as a sponge for miR-942, which in turn promoted expression of ANK1, GDNF, and PAX6. A novel and highly specific circRNA-pulldown followed by mass spectrometry analysis identified 94 circFOXK2-interacting proteins, which were involved in cell adhesion, mRNA splicing, and structural molecule activity. Of these, circFOKX2 interactions with YBX1 and hnRNPK enhanced expression of oncogenes NUF2 and PDXK. Knockdown of circFOXK2 reduced binding of YBX1 and hnRNPK to NUF2 and PDXK, in turn decreasing their expression. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that circFOXK2 in complex with YBX1 and hnRNPK promotes expression of oncogenic proteins that contribute to PDAC progression.All Related Versions
Funding Information
- General Research Fund Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (4171217, 14120618)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (81672323)
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