Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that circular RNAs (circRNAs) may be a key contributor to oncogenesis. Yet, the function of circRNAs in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is still not clear. In this study, we examined the function of circRNA_103862 in LSCC progression by analyzing the tissue specimens collected from a patient with LSCC by using different LSCC cell models in vitro and an LSCC xenograft model in nude mice. We found that circRNA_103862 was frequently upregulated in the tissues of LSCC and was correlated with metastasis and prognosis of LSCC patients. Furthermore, circRNA_103862 downregulation could reduce proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of LSCC cells. In terms of mechanism exploration, miR-493-5p was sponged by circRNA_103862. Rescue experiments also showed that circRNA_103862 could achieve a carcinogenic effect by regulating miR-493-5p. Moreover, a luciferase reporter analysis showed that Golgi membrane protein 1 (GOLM1) is a downstream effector of miR-493-5p. In conclusion, our data suggested that circRNA_103862 promotes the proliferation of LSCC through targeting the miR-493-5p/GOLM1 axis, and it might serve as a potential prognosis marker and therapy target for LSCC.