Overexpressed circRANBP17 acts as an oncogene to facilitate nasopharyngeal carcinoma via the miR-635/RUNX2 axis.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are implicated in the initiation and progress of several diseases, including cancer. However, the precise role of circRNAs in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unclear. In this research, we found a new circRNA hsa_circ_0001554 (circRANBP17), which was derived from the RAN binding protein 17 (RANBP17). Our qRT-PCR data found that circRANBP17 expression was up-regulated in NPC tissue and cells. Functional silencing studies revealed that circRANBP17 inhibited NPC cell proliferation and invasion in vitro, and circRANBP17 down-regulation also reduced tumor growth in nude mice. MiR-635 was demonstrated as a direct target of circRANBP17; circRANBP17 up-regulated RUNX2 expression levels by sponging miR-635, thereby promoting NPC proliferation and invasion. Thus, our data provide the evidence for the first time that circRANBP17 is a new onco-circRNA via miR-635/RUNX2 axis regulation, and may function as a novel therapeutic target for NPC treatment.