Bupivacaine suppresses the progression of gastric cancer through regulating circ_0000376/miR-145-5p axis

Background Local anesthetic Bupivacaine commonly used in gastric cancer resection operation has been reported to suppress the progression of gastric cancer. However, the specific mechanism by which Bupivacaine functions is largely unexplored. Methods The viability and metastasis of gastric cancer cells were assessed by Cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) assay and transwell migration and invasion assays. The apoptosis was evaluated by caspase-3 activity detection assay and flow cytometry. The glycolysis was analyzed through detecting the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) via Seahorse XF 96 Extracellular Flux Analyzer and the expression of glucose transporter type 1 (GLUT1) and lactic dehydrogenase A (LDHA) via Western blot assay. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was applied to detect the expression of circular RNA 0000376 (circ_0000376) and microRNA-145-5p (miR-145-5p). The interaction between circ_0000376 and miR-145-5p was predicted using Circular RNA Interactome database and validated by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results Bupivacaine restrained the viability, metastasis and glycolytic process while promoted the apoptosis of gastric cancer cells. Bupivacaine decreased the level of circ_0000376 while enhanced the abundance of miR-145-5p in gastric cancer cells. Circ_0000376 accelerated the malignant behaviors of gastric cancer cells. MiR-145-5p directly interacted with circ_0000376 in gastric cancer cells, and miR-145-5p was negatively regulated by circ_0000376. The addition of circ_0000376 or the interference of miR-145-5p partly reversed Bupivacaine-mediated influences in gastric cancer cells. Conclusion Bupivacaine exerted an anti-tumor role to suppress the progression of gastric cancer through reducing the abundance of circ_0000376 and up-regulating miR-145-5p.