Circ_001422 aggravates osteosarcoma progression through targeting miR-497-5p/E2F3 axis

Abstract Circ_001422 has been confirmed to be involved in regulating osteosarcoma progression, but its specific mechanism has not been clearly studied. This work aimed to analyze circ_001422’s role in osteosarcoma (OS) cell biological behaviors and the possible molecular mechanisms. This work carried out RT-qPCR for detecting circ_001422, E2F3 and miR-497-5p levels, whereas CCK-8 together with Transwell assays for measuring cell growth, migration as well as invasion abilities. Relation of miR-497-5p with E2F3, as well as circ_001422 with miR-497-5p was analyzed through dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Protein level was identified by westernblot. According to our results, circ_001422 expression within osteosarcoma tissue significantly increased compared with corresponding healthy samples. Inhibition of circ_001422 significantly decreased OS cell growth, invasion and migration. From mechanism research, miR-497-5p was proved as circ_001422’s target, and E2F3 was miR-497-5p’s target. Besides, miR-497-5p down-regulation or E2F3 overexpression abolished circ_001422 inhibition-mediated inhibition on OS cell proliferation, invasion and migration. Collectively, this study has first suggested circ_001422’s role in enhancing OS proliferation, migration as well as invasion via miR-497-5p/E2F3 axis. Our results will offer new ideas and new anti-OS targets.