This study identifies hsacirc₀039776 and hsacirc₀067353 as novel tumor-suppressive circRNAs exhibiting reduced expression in colorectal cancer spheroids and metastatic lesions. The constructed circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network indicates that these circRNAs modulate oncogenic miRNAs (hsa-miR-614, hsa-miR-645, hsa-miR-4689) and their downstream tumor-suppressive targets (CCL5, INSC, SLC9A1, SLC34A1), which correlate with favorable survival outcomes and influence cancer stemness. These results contribute to a deeper comprehension of the role of circRNAs in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer and underscore their potential utility as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
Su et al. (Tue,) studied this question.