AUTHOR=Zhuo Han , Xia Jinguo , Zhang Jin , Tang Junwei , Han Sheng , Zheng Qitong , Zhu Deming , Zhang Feihong , Xu Zhenggang , Sun Dongwei , Tan Zhongming , Wu Chen TITLE=CircASPH Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression Through Methylation and Expression of HAO2 JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2022.911715 DOI=10.3389/fonc.2022.911715 ISSN=2234-943X ABSTRACT=

CircRNAs have been reported to be related to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. Limited studies have revealed the expression profile of circRNAs in tumor and para-tumor normal samples in HCC patients. We found that circASPH was significantly increased in HCC tumor samples and that the level of circASPH was closely related to the overall survival of HCC patients. Mechanistically, circASPH could regulate the methylation of the promoter and expression of hydrocyanic oxidase 2 (HAO2) to promote HCC progression by acting as a sponge for miR-370-3p, and miR-370-3p could target DNMT3b and increase the 5mC level. In summary, our study determined that circASPH could regulate the methylation and expression of HAO2 and it could be considered an important epigenetic regulator in HCC progression.