CircRNA 0025202 Induces Cervical Cancer Tumorigenesis by Sponging miR-556-5p to Activate HMGA2 Expression

Abstract

circRNAs are reported to demonstrate significant function in various cancers. Nevertheless, the detailed effects of circRNAs in cervical cancer development are seldom displayed. In our present research, we observed circ_0025202 was strongly overexpressed in cervical cancer tissues and cells. Meanwhile, circ_0025202 expression in the tissue samples of cervical cancer was positively associated with FIGO stage and lymphnode metastasis. Then, it was proved that knockdown of circ_0025202 obviously restrained cell growth while triggered cell apoptosis. In addition, we demonstrated that circ_0025202 acted as a sponge of miR-556-5p targeting HMGA2 in cervical cancer cells. Moreover, the increase of HMGA2 is a feature of malignant tumor. Increasing reports have suggested HMGA2 expression could be a biomarker in cervical cancer. Then, it was manifested miR-556-5p was decreased in cervical cancer. Up-regulation of miR-556-5p repressed cervical cancer growth significantly. Besides these, it was confirmed that loss of HMGA2 by shRNA-circ_0025202-mediated up-regulation of miR-556-5p enhanced cervical cancer cell growth. To sum up, our data indicated a mechanism that circ_0025202- miR-556-5p-HMGA2 network enhanced cervical cancer development.