Abstract
The current study aimed to explore the role of the circular RNA circ-TCF4.85 and its downstream target microRNA-486-5p (miR-486-5p) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. Circ-TCF4.85 was detected to be highly expressed in HCC tissues. Next, we found that silencing of circ-TCF4.85 repressed HCC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration, while enhancing apoptosis. In addition, biotin-coupled probe pull-down and miRNA capture assays, as well as fluorescence in situ hybridization, confirmed that circ-TCF4.85 could bind to miR-486-5p. In rescue experiments, miR-486-5p had the potential to eliminate the tumor-suppressive effects of circ-TCF4.85 knockdown in HCC. Moreover, miR-486-5p was shown to target ABCF2 gene, which was positively regulated by circ-TCF4.85. Finally, nude mice subcutaneously injected with si-circ-TCF4.85-transfected HCC cells presented with inhibited xenograft tumor formation in vivo. Taken together, our results reveal that silencing of circ-TCF4.85 suppresses HCC progression via miR-486-5p-targeted inhibition of ABCF2.