CircRNA Expression Profile in Lung Cancer Complicated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients

Abstract

Background: Lung cancer complicated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are major causes of mortality worldwide, and the incidence of lung cancer and COPD increasing significantly. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), have been reported to participate in various biological processes, whereas the role of circRNAs in lung cancer complicated with COPD remains unclear. We aims to identify differentially expressed circRNAs (DEcircRNAs) between lung cancer complicated with COPD and lung cancer without COPD. Method: The circRNAs expression profiles were identified using a high-throughput circRNA microarray in cancer adjacent tissues from 6 lung cancer without COPD patients and 8 lung cancer complicated with COPD patients. Bioinformatic analyses were conducted to identify the functions of DEcircRNAs. Result: A total of 115 up- and 128 down-regulated circRNAs were screened in lung cancer complicated with COPD patients compared with lung cancer without COPD patients. The myD88-dependent toll-like receptor signaling pathway and positive regulation of nitric oxide biosynthetic process ranked the top 2 enriched biological processes in Gene Ontology analysis. Signaling transduction and infectious diseases were the most significantly enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways in both up- and down-regulated circRNAs. Compared with lung cancer without COPD, circRNAs are dysregulated in the adjacent tissues of lung cancer with COPD. Conclusion: The DEcircRNAs might act as potential targets for the diagnosis of lung cancer with COPD.