The circEPSTI1/mir-942-5p/LTBP2 axis regulates the progression of OSCC in the background of OSF via EMT and the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway

• DOI: 10.1038/s41419-020-02851-w
• Publication Date: 2020-08-21T12:02:54Z
• Authors: Jie Wang; Canhua Jiang; Ning Li; Fei Wang; Ying Xu; Zhengzhong Shen; Lina Yang; Zaiye Li; Caiyun He
• Keywords: Oral submucous fibrosis; RPTOR

Abstract Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in the background of oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) caused by areca nut chewing has a high incidence Asia-Pacific countries. However, molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here, we performed circRNA microarray analysis to screen expression profiles OSCC and OSF. We identified circEPSTI1 as with consistent, sequential upregulation from normal buccal mucosa (NBM) OSF OSCC. Functionally, significantly promoted proliferation invasion, evidenced CCK8, colony formation, wound healing, transwell assays overexpression silencing. patients status exhibited poor prognoses. CircEPSTI1 sponged miR-942-5p accelerated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) increase LTBP2 through phosphorylation PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway components. Blocking dual PI3k/mTOR inhibitor BEZ235 reversed progression induced LTBP2. Collectively, these results indicate that circEPSTI1/miR-942-5p/LTBP2 axis affects invasion via acceleration EMT may be an independent diagnostic prognostic marker potential therapeutic target for