circICMT upregulates and suppresses the malignant behavior of bladder cancer

Background: Circular RNA (circRNA) is a new type of endogenous single-stranded RNA with a covalently closed circular structure. Increasing evidence shows that circRNA plays an important role in regulating gene expression in tumors. circICMT is a circular RNA produced by the ICMT gene. Currently, the molecular function of circICMT in bladder cancer remains unclear.

Method: Differentially expressed circRNAs were identified from RNA sequencing data and circICMT was identified as a new candidate circRNA. qRT-PCR and sanger sequencing were used to detect the expression of circICMT in bladder cancer tissue specimens. Stable cell lines overexpressing and knocking down circICMT were constructed to explore the effect of circICMT on bladder cancer cells. Its biological effects were detected through wound healing experiments, colony formation experiments, CCK-8 experiments and xenogeneic tumorigenesis experiments.

Result: This study found that circICMT was significantly upregulated in bladder cancer tissue specimens. Overexpression of circICMT can inhibit cell migration, proliferation and colony formation ability, while knockdown of circICMT promotes the malignant phenotype of bladder cancer cells. Bioinformatics predictions have found that circICMT can bind to a variety of miRNAs and RBPs and may form a complex regulatory network to regulate the progression of bladder cancer.

Conclusion: circICMT is significantly highly expressed in bladder cancer, and intervening circICMT expression affects the malignant phenotype of bladder cancer cells in vivo and in vitro, which may provide potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for the management of bladder cancer.