CircMYLK Promotes Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion in Colorectal Cancer

Objective. To investigate the role of circular RNA MYLK (circMYLK) in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods. Patients with CRC were enrolled and cancerous tissues were collected. CircMYLK expression was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The diagnostic value of circMYLK was determined by ROC curve. In vitro knockdown of circMYLK was carried out to investigate the proliferation, migration and invasion capabilities of CRC cell lines. Results. We first found that circMYLK expression was markedly enhanced in human CRC tissues, serum and cell lines, which was correlated with poor prognosis and some detrimental clinical characteristics. ROC curve showed that circMYLK could be a diagnostic biomarker of CRC. The proliferation ability of CRC cells was markedly inhibited, while higher apoptosis rate was induced after circMYLK deplition. In addition, the migration and invasion abilities of CRC cells were suppressed following circMYLK silencing. Conclusion. Our results implicate that circMYLK functions as oncogenic stimuli in CRC and may be a novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets of CRC.