Abstract
Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has long been one of the predominant reasons for the global cancer-linked mortality. The tumor progression is shown by several studies to be promoted by increased glycolysis. Enolase 1 (ENO1), as a glycolysis enzyme, performs pivotal role in glucose metabolism and contributes to tumor progression of numerous cancers. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are catching increasing attentions for their surging roles in regulating gene expression in cancers. Our work is to uncover the regulatory mechanism circ-ENO1 on its host gene ENO1 and its function in glycolysis and tumor progression. Circ-ENO1 and its host gene ENO1 were identified to be upregulated in LUAD cells. Functionally, silencing circ-ENO1 retarded glycolysis, inhibited proliferation, migration and EMT, induced apoptosis. The cytoplasmic localization of circ-ENO1 was determined by FISH and subcellular fractionation. Mechanistically, circ-ENO1 acted as a ceRNA to interact with miR-22-3p and upregulate ENO1 expression. In vivo experiments certified that circ-ENO1 drove tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. In summary, current study elucidated that circ-ENO1 promoted glycolysis and tumor progression in LUAD by miR-22-3p/ENO1 axis, indicating circ-ENO1 as a promising treatment target for LUAD patients.