CircABCC1 promotes the development of glioma by sponging miR-591 and modulating high-mobility group A2.

CircABCC1 plays an oncogenic role in diverse malignancies. In this study, we investigated its involvement in glioma. The expression of circABCC1 and miR-591 was detected in glioma tissues and cell lines. Gain- and loss-of-function assays were performed to determine the biological effects of circABCC1, miR-591, and high-mobility group A2 (HMGA2) in glioma cells. The circABCC1-mediated competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory mechanism was explored by bioinformatics and the luciferase reporter assay combined with the biotinylated RNA pulldown assay. The effect of circABCC1 on the tumorigenicity of glioma in vivo was detected by constructing xenografts in nude mice. CircABCC1 was highly expressed, and miR-591 was downregulated in glioma tissues and cells. Suppression of circABCC1 repressed the malignant behaviors of glioma cells and tumor growth. Through the ceRNA mechanism, circABCC1 interacts with miR-591 to regulate the expression of HMGA2. CircABCC1 functions as an oncogene to promote the progression of glioma via the regulation of miR-591/HMGA2 signaling. In summary, as revealed by our study, circABCC1 promotes the expression of HMGA2 via sponging of miR-591, thus affecting glioma progression as an important onco-circRNA.