AUTHOR=Mafi Alireza , Rismanchi Hamidreza , Malek Mohammadi Mohaddese , Hedayati Neda , Ghorbanhosseini Seyedeh Sara , Hosseini Seyed Ali , Gholinezhad Yasaman , Mousavi Dehmordi Rohollah , Ghezelbash Behrooz , Zarepour Fatemeh , Taghavi Seyed Pouya , Asemi Zatollah , Alimohammadi Mina , Mirzaei Hamed TITLE=A spotlight on the interplay between Wnt/β-catenin signaling and circular RNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma progression JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2023.1224138 DOI=10.3389/fonc.2023.1224138 ISSN=2234-943X ABSTRACT=

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest cancers due to multifocal development and distant metastasis resulting from late diagnosis. Consequently, new approaches to HCC diagnosis and treatment are required to reduce mortality rates. A large body of evidence suggests that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are important in cancer initiation and progression. Cancer cells release many of these ncRNAs into the blood or urine, enabling their use as a diagnostic tool. Circular RNAs (CircRNAs) are as a members of the ncRNAs that regulate cancer cell expansion, migration, metastasis, and chemoresistance through different mechanisms such as the Wnt/β-catenin Signaling pathway. The Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays prominent roles in several biological processes including organogenesis, stem cell regeneration, and cell survival. Aberrant signaling of both pathways mentioned above could affect the progression and metastasis of many cancers, including HCC. Based on several studies investigated in the current review, circRNAs have an effect on HCC formation and progression by sponging miRNAs and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and regulating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Therefore, circRNAs/miRNAs or RBPs/Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway could be considered promising prognostic and therapeutic targets in HCC.