CircRNA circ_POLA2 is Upregulated in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and Promotes Cell Proliferation by Suppressing the Production of Mature miR-34a

• Published in: Cancer management and research Vol. 13; pp. 3629 - 3637
• Main Authors: Li, Hong, Bi, Kehong, Feng, Saran, Wang, Yan, Zhu, Chuansheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Dove; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: acute myeloid leukemia; Analysis; Antibodies; Biology; Bone marrow; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Cell cycle; Cell growth; circ_pola2; Ethanol; Experiments; Genetic aspects; Leukemia; Lung cancer; maturation; mir-34a; Original Research; Physiology; circ_POLA2; maturation; acute myeloid leukemia; miR-34a
• ISSN: 1179-1322; 1179-1322
• DOI: 10.2147/CMAR.S281690

CircRNA circ_POLA2 has been reported as an oncogene in lung cancer, while its role in other malignancies is unknown. This study aimed to explore the role of circ_POLA2 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The expression levels of circ_POLA2, mature miR-34a and miR-34a precursor in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) from AML patients (n = 50) and healthy controls (n = 50) were determined by RT-qPCR. Correlations among them were analyzed by Pearson's correlation coefficient. Overexpression of circ_POLA2 was achieved in AML cell lines, followed by the measurement of the expression levels of mature miR-34a and miR-34a precursor. The role of circ_POLA2 and miR-34a in regulating AML cell proliferation was assessed by CCK-8 assay. Circ_POLA2 was upregulated in AML and inversely correlated with mature miR-34a, but not miR-34a precursor. In AML cells, overexpression of circ_POLA2 decreased the expression levels of mature miR-34a, but not miR-34a precursor. Cell proliferation analysis showed that the overexpression of miR-34a attenuated the effects of overexpression of circ_POLA2 on cell proliferation. Circ_POLA2 is upregulated in AML and promotes cell proliferation by suppressing the production of mature miR-34a.