Circular RNA hsa_circ_0008003 facilitates tumorigenesis and development of non-small cell lung carcinoma via modulating miR-488/ZNF281 axis

As one of the most aggressive malignancies, non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) has high risks of death. It has been demonstrated that circRNAs accelerate NSCLC progression, but the underlying molecular mechanisms of circRNAs in NSCLC were still obscure. In the first place, the circRNA microarray of NSCLC was investigated in this study, and hsa_circ_0008003 (circ-0008003) was chosen as the research object. Then, it was unveiled that the expression of circ-0008003 examined via qRT-PCR was elevated in tumour tissues relative to the non-tumour tissues, which was associated with TNM stage and lymphatic metastasis in NSCLC. Additionally, the prognosis of NSCLC patients with high circ-0008003 level was poor. Besides, circ-0008003 silencing dampened the invasion and proliferation of NSCLC cells. Next, according to the mechanistic studies, circ-0008003 functioned as a ceRNA of ZNF281 in NSCLC by acting as the endogenous sponge for miR-488, which was proved to be a tumour suppressor in NSCLC. Additionally, ZNF281 overexpression and miR-488 suppression recovered the influences of repressed circ-0008003 on NSCLC cellular processes. It was validated in this research that circ-0008003 triggered tumour formation in NSCLC, which was adjusted via miR-488/ZNF281 axis, casting a novel light on the resultful target for treating NSCLC and predicting the prognosis.