circRNA basic information
circBase ID: hsa_circ_0017521
Name: hsa_circ_AKR1E2
Synonym: circ_0017521
Host Gene: AKR1E2
Genomic location(hg19): chr10:4872866-4884696:+
Genomic location(hg38): chr10:4830674-4842504:+
Subcellular localization: cytoplasm
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Disease basic information
MONDO ID:
 0005233
MONDO name: non-small cell lung carcinoma
Disease details: non-small cell lung cancer
Disease DO ID:
 3908
Disease MeSH ID:
 D002289
Disease NCIt ID:
 C2926
Disease ICD11 ID:
 -
Disease OMIM ID:
 -
Species: Human
Species details: Homo sapiens
Tissue specimen:

tumor tissue; adjacent non-tumor lung tissue; NSCLC tissues; mouse tumor tissues
Cell lines:

A549; H1299; PC9; H1650; BEAS-2B; HEK293T
In vivo animal model:

cell line-derived xenograft
circRNA-disease information
Expression pattern:
UP
Associated gene: PFKFB3, PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, GLUT1, LDHA, HK2, AGO2
Associated microRNA: miR-532-3p
Biological function: Promotes NSCLC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis, EMT, glycolysis and tumor growth under hypoxia, while inhibiting apoptosis.
Molecular mechanism: circ_0017521 acts as a cytoplasmic ceRNA that sponges miR-532-3p, relieves miR-532-3p-mediated suppression of PFKFB3, activates the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, and enhances glycolytic enzyme expression and EMT.
Biological pathway or process:

PI3K/AKT (promotes); PI3K/AKT/mTOR (promotes); proliferation (promotes); migration (promotes); invasion (promotes); metastasis (promotes); EMT (promotes); glycolysis (promotes); apoptosis (inhibits); ceRNA regulation (promotes); other pathway/process (promotes)
Detected method:
Q
M
Validation methods:

RT-qPCR; Microarray; RNase R Treatment; Actinomycin D / DRB Stability Assay; Nuclear-Cytoplasmic Fractionation; Clinical Sample Validation; Bioinformatics Analysis; Transfection; Luciferase Reporter Assay; RNA Pull-Down; RIP (RNA Immunoprecipitation); CCK8; Colony Formation Assay; Transwell Assay; Annexin V/PI Flow Cytometry; Flow Cytometry（Non-apoptosis/cycle）; Western Blot; In Vivo Animal Model
Clinical significance:

Potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target in NSCLC.
Description:

Hypoxia-induced circ_0017521 is up-regulated in NSCLC tissues and hypoxic NSCLC cells and functions as an oncogenic circRNA. It promotes proliferation, migration, invasion, EMT, glycolysis and xenograft tumor growth by sponging miR-532-3p to upregulate PFKFB3 and activate PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling, while circ_0017521 knockdown increases apoptosis and suppresses malignant progression.
Confidence score:

0.8355
Other information
Title:

Hypoxia-induced circ_0017521 enhances glycolysis and promotes NSCLC progression via upregulating the PFKFB3/PI3K-AKT pathway.

Journal: Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society
Published: 2026
PubMed ID: 41699263
Study type:

combined biological and clinical study
Data availability: GSE146689; GSE101684; TCGA-LUAD; The Human Protein Atlas (HPA); https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-026-10202-x; available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request
Code availability: -