Highly-expressed circ_0129657 inhibits proliferation as well as promotes apoptosis and inflammation in HBMECs after oxygen-glucose deprivation via miR-194-5p/GMFB axis.

Stroke is an acute cerebrovascular disease that is now the most important cause of death due to brain problems in our country. CircRNAs are RNA circles that have been extensively involved in the disease. We aimed to investigate the mechanism of circ_0129657 in the pathogenesis of stroke. In this study, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot assays were used to assess the expression of circ_0129657, miR-194-5p, and glia maturation factor beta (GMFB). Cell viability was measured by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. 5-Ethynyl-2'-Deoxyuridine (EdU) assay was used to detect cell proliferation. Flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis. Dual-luciferase reporter, RNA pull-down, and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays were used to assess the relationship between miR-194-5p and circ_0129657 or GMFB. Mouse middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model was applied to mimic the cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. Our data showed that the levels of circ_0129657 and GMFB were significantly increased and the expression of miR-194-5p was significantly decreased in oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs). Silencing circ_0129657 expression in OGD-induced HBMECs could promote cell viability and cell proliferation. Moreover, circ_0129657 depletion also could inhibit apoptosis and inflammatory factor secretion. Circ_0129657 functioned as a sponge for miR-194-5p and could regulate GMFB expression via miR-194-5p competition. Furthermore, miR-194-5p downregulation or GMFB restoration could partially reverse the effects of circ_0129657 silencing on cell biological properties in OGD-induced HBMECs. Meanwhile, circ_0129657 knockdown decreased cerebral infarction volume and neurological impairment in MCAO mouse models. In conclusion, our findings suggest that circ_0129657 can inhibit cell proliferation and promote apoptosis and inflammatory factor secretion in HBMECs after oxygen-glucose deprivation via miR-194-5p/GMFB axis, providing evidence that circ_0129657 has the potential as a useful biological molecular marker in the diagnosis of stroke.