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However, the functions and molecular mechanisms of circRNAs in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) are largely unknown.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>The expression and functions of circAGAP1 were identified in clinical samples, ccRCC cells and in vivo animal models. The molecular mechanism of circAGAP1 was investigated by fluorescence in situ hybridization, RNA immunoprecipitation and luciferase assays.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>circAGAP1 (circ0058792) expression was significantly upregulated in ccRCC tissues compared to adjacent nontumor tissues. Moreover, the expression of circAGAP1 was closely related to the tumor size, nuclear grade and clinical stage of ccRCC in patients. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that cytoplasmic circAGAP1 targeted miR-15-5p in an RNA-induced silencing complex. Additionally, miR-15-5p expression was downregulated in ccRCC. Luciferase reporter assays showed that E2F transcription factor 3 (E2F3) was a target of miR-15-5p, and upregulated E2F3 expression was positively correlated with circAGAP1 in ccRCC. Furthermore, the tumor-promoting functions of circAGAP1 could be alleviated by miR-15-5p mimics in vitro and in vivo.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Our results clarify that circAGAP1 exerts its oncogenic functions as a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) by sponging miR-15-5p, which promotes E2F3 expression. Targeting circAGAP1 might be a new attractive therapeutic strategy in ccRCC.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s13046-021-01864-3","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,22]],"date-time":"2021-02-22T13:04:45Z","timestamp":1613999085000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["CircAGAP1 promotes tumor progression by sponging miR-15-5p in clear cell renal cell carcinoma"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"40","author":[{"given":"Qi","family":"Lv","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gangmin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yinan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aijun","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Junjun","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yi","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chunhui","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peijun","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"1864_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"394","DOI":"10.3322\/caac.21492","volume":"68","author":"F Bray","year":"2018","unstructured":"Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Siegel RL, Torre LA, Jemal A. 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Informed consent was obtained from the patients undergoing surgery. The animal study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Tongji Hospital, Tongji University (2019tjdx210).","order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no competing interests.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"76"}}