The function of circular RMST in neuroendocrine tumours

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a class of noncoding RNA with regulatory potentials. Its role in the transdifferentiation of prostate and lung adenocarcinoma into neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains unexplored. Here we identified circRMST as an exceptionally abundant circRNA predominantly expressed in NEPC using total RNA-seq profiling of patient samples. In addition, circRMST is also abundantly expressed in SCLC. Functional studies using shRNA, siRNA, CRISPR-Cas13 and Cas9 consistently demonstrate that circRMST is essential for tumour growth and the expression of ASCL1, a master regulator of neuroendocrine fate. Mechanistically, circRMST physically interacts with lineage transcription factors NKX2-1 and SOX2. Loss of circRMST induces NKX2-1 protein degradation through autophagy-lysosomal pathway and alters the genomic binding of SOX2, collectively leading to the loss of ASCL1 transcription.

Type: RNASeq
Archiver: European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA)

1 Dataset

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Dataset ID	Description	Technology	Samples
EGAD50000001312	This dataset contains total RNA-seq of 10 patient samples: 5 castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and 5 neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC). Total RNA-seq was constructed using ribosomal RNA-depleted random hexamer-primed RNA library preparation kit and sequenced on Illumina at pair-end 150bp. Total RNA-seq allows for circular RNA and mRNA analyses. Each sample was sequenced on two separate lanes, therefore, two pairs of raw fastq files (4 files in total) are provided for each sample.	Illumina HiSeq 2000	10