Abstract
Circular RNA (circRNA) is a widely expressed non-coding RNA element characterized by a covalently closed continuous loop. Emerging evidence suggests important roles of circRNAs in the pathogenesis of human cancers. However, the functions and underlying mechanisms of circRNAs in glioma remain largely unclear. Previously, our studies uncovered a batch of abnormally expressed circRNAs in glioma tissue, among which circPARP4 was significantly upregulated with the top fold change. Here, we focused on the functional investigation toward circPARP4 in glioblastoma progression and looked for insight into its underlying mechanisms. The results confirmed the elevated expression of circPARP4 in glioma and found its association with glioma pathological grade. Gain- and loss-of-function strategies showed that circPARP4 could obviously promote glioma cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Mechanistically, in vivo and in vitro studies demonstrated that circPARP4, as a miRNA sponge, directly interacted with miR-125a-5p, which then regulated FUT4 to exert the oncogenic effect on glioma behavior. Our findings illustrate functions of circPARP4 in modulating glioma progression through miR-125a-5p/FUT4 pathway, which provides a novel and potential target for glioma therapy.