Fig. 1. The expression of circEPSTI1 is consistently upregulated sequentially from NBM to OSF to OSCC.
a Expression profile of circRNAs in three paired OSCC and matched OSF tissues as well as in three NBM tissues. b, c Six consistently deregulated circRNAs in tissue samples (b) and OSCC cell lines (c). d RNase R exonuclease and actinomycin D assays confirmed the circular structure of circEPSTI1. e The subcellular distribution of circEPSTI1 was cytoplasmic, as shown by FISH (scale bar 10 μm). f The expression level of circEPSTI1 in 154 OSCC and matched OSF tissues was analyzed by RT-qPCR. g ROC curve analysis revealed that circEPSTI1 could sensitively discriminate OSCC from OSF and OSF from NBM. h Kaplan–Meier analysis of the correlation between circEPSTI1 expression and OS as well as PFS. ***P < 0.001; **P < 0.01; *P < 0.05.