Objective: To explore the effect of Circular RNA Itchy E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (Circ-ITCH) on regulating epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells proliferation and apoptosis, as well as its potential target microRNAs (miR) in vitro.
Materials and methods: Circ-ITCH mimic, blank mimic, Circ-ITCH inhibitor and blank inhibitor plasmids were transfected into SKOV3 cells. Rescue experiments were carried out by transfecting blank mimic, miR-10a mimic, Circ-ITCH mimic and miR-10a mimic/Circ-ITCH mimic plasmids into SKOV3 cells. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was performed to detect RNA expression. Cells proliferation was determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, and cells apoptosis rate was detected using Annexin V (AV) / propidium iodide (PI) assay.
Results: Circ-ITCH expression was decreased in Human EOC cell lines SKOV3, A-2780, OVCAR-3 and HO-8910 compared with human normal ovarian epithelial cell line IOSE80, and the most significant reduction of Circ-ITCH expression was presented in SKOV3 cells. Cells proliferation was suppressed by Circ-ITCH mimic transfection and promoted by Circ-ITCH inhibitor transfection in SKOV3 cells. Cells apoptosis was enhanced by Circ-ITCH mimic transfection and inhibited by Circ-ITCH inhibitor transfection in SKOV3 cells. In addition, Circ-ITCH adversely regulated miR-10a expression in SKOV3 cells but not miR-4251 or miR-6505. Rescue experiments were subsequently performed, which exhibited that Circ-ITCH adversely regulated miR-10a expression, whereas miR-10a did not affect Circ-ITCH expression. And most importantly, miR-10a mimic attenuated the effect of Circ-ITCH on reducing proliferation and promoting apoptosis in SKOV3 cells.
Conclusions: Circ-ITCH suppresses cells proliferation and promotes cells apoptosis via sponging miR-10a in EOC cells.