AUTHOR=Duan Jie , Cai Hongning , Huang Yanming , Shi Liangyan 

TITLE=SNAI2-Induced CircMTO1 Promotes Cell Proliferation and Inhibits Apoptosis Through the miR-320b/MCL1 Axis in Human Granulosa-Like Tumor Cells

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2021.689916

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2021.689916

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one of the most common type of endocrine diseases, is characterized by a high prevalence among reproductive-age women. However, its pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms remain unclear. CircMTO1 has been reported to participate in numerous biological progressions, but, its role in PCOS progression is still uncovered. In the current study, we elucidated the expression and circRNA characterization of circMTO1 in human granulosa-like tumor cells. We found that circMTO1 knockdown promoted human granulosa-like tumor cell proliferation and inhibited its apoptosis rate. Next, we explored the underlying molecular mechanisms by utilizing a serial experiment. Our results revealed the effect of the novel circMTO1/miR-320b/MCL1 axis in human granulosa-like tumor cells. Furthermore, we found that the expression of circMTO1 was induced by snail Family Transcriptional Repressor 2 (SNAI2) in human granulosa-like tumor cells. Our results may provide potential targets for PCOS research and a novel direction for the diagnosis and treatment of PCOS.