LAUSR

Colorectal cancer (CRC), a fatal tumor, has been diagnosed as one of the most prevalent types of cancers globally, inducing multiple cancer‐linked deaths. Mounting evidence has revealed that circular RNA (circRNA) elicits a regulatory impact on the initiation and development of cancers. Emerged as a new circRNA, hsa_circ_0000677 (circ‐ABCC1) has not been studied in cancer progression. This study is the first attempt to explore the regulatory role of circ‐ABCC1 in CRC. In this study, data from sphere‐forming, transwell, and Western blot analyses revealed that cell stemness, sphere formation, and metastasis were notably enhanced in CD133+ cells isolated from CRC cells. In addition, exosomes from CD133+ cells could promote cell stemness, sphere formation, and metastasis. Moreover, circ‐ABCC1 was verified to be characterized with a loop structure through quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis. Functional assays testified that the upregulation of circ‐ABCC1 contributed to cell stemness, sphere formation, and metastasis in CD133−/Caco2 or CD133−/HCT15 cells. Furthermore, the interaction between circ‐ABCC1 and β‐catenin was analyzed via RNA immunoprecipitation and RNA pull‐down and finally, circ‐ABCC1 was confirmed to facilitate CRC progression by activating the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway. To sum up, exosomes from CD133+ cells carrying circ‐ABCC1 can mediate cell stemness and metastasis in CRC, unveiling that circ‐ABCC1 serves as a novel candidate target for CRC treatment.