Circ-ZNF124 downregulation inhibits non-small cell lung cancer progression partly by inactivating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway via mediating the miR-498/YES1 axis.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a major type of lung cancer, leading to a high fatality rate. The role of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in cancer has been increasingly emphasized and studied. However, the function of circ-ZNF124 in NSCLC is largely unclear, and associated regulatory mechanism is not studied. Here, we examined the expression pattern of circ-ZNF124 using quantitative real-time PCR. For functional analysis, cell proliferation, cell apoptosis/cycle and cell invasion were investigated using MTT [3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay, flow cytometry assay and transwell assay, respectively. As results, we found that the expression of circ-ZNF124 was elevated in NSCLC tissues and cells. Functionally, circ-ZNF124 downregulation inhibited NSCLC cell proliferation and invasion but induced apoptosis and cycle arrest in vitro, and blocked tumor growth in vivo by animal experiments. Mechanistically, we identified that miR-498 was a target of circ-ZNF124, and miR-498 directly bound to YES proto-oncogene 1 (YES1). Besides, rescue experiments discovered that the cellular effects caused by circ-ZNF124 downregulation could be reversed by miR-498 inhibition or YES1 overexpression. Moreover, we discovered that circ-ZNF124 downregulation inactivated the expression of β-catenin and c-Myc by mediating the miR-498/YES axis. In conclusion, these findings supported that circ-ZNF124 regulated the expression of YES1 by acting as a sponge of miR-498, thus restraining NSCLC development by inactivating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which provided a novel strategy to treat NSCLC.