Circular RNA circ_0001829 attenuates G2/M arrest to promote hepatocyte proliferation by sponging miR-3095-3p following liver injury.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a class of non-coding RNAs, are critical regulators of liver injury repair. In this study, using a CCl4-induced mouse liver injury model, we conducted high-throughput sequencing to identify circRNAs enriched in the cell cycle pathway. Four circRNAs (circ_0000604, circ_0001350, circ_0001829, and circ_0001830) were significantly upregulated in early liver injury, with dynamic expression patterns closely linked to repair. Of these, circ_0001829 was selected for functional validation. Circ_0001829 overexpression promoted FL83B cell proliferation and alleviated G2/M phase arrest, whereas its knockdown inhibited these effects. This pro-proliferative effect was confirmed in Hepa1-6 cells. Mechanistically, circ_0001829 functions as a molecular sponge for miR-3095-3p, attenuating its repression of the target gene CDC7 and forming a novel competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) axis: circ_0001829/miR-3095-3p/CDC7. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that circ_0001829 facilitates liver injury repair by promoting cell proliferation and mitigating cell cycle arrest via a ceRNA mechanism. These results offer valuable insights for the development of ncRNA-based therapeutics for liver injury.