Next‐generation sequencing to investigate circular RNA profiles in the peripheral blood of preterm neonates with bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Abstract

Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are emerging noncoding RNAs that are involved in many biological processes and diseases. The expression profile of circRNAs in preterm neonates with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) remains unresolved. Methods In BPD infants, peripheral venous blood was drawn and circRNAs were extracted and sequenced by next‐generation sequencing. The levels of the selected circRNAs were measured by real‐time quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Results Among thousands of circRNAs, 491 circRNAs were significantly changed. Among the top 10 changed circRNAs, hsa_circ_0003122, hsa_circ_0003357, hsa_circ_0009983, hsa_circ_0003037, and hsa_circ_0009256 were significantly increased, while hsa_circ_0014932, hsa_circ_0015109, hsa_circ_0017811, hsa_circ_0020588, and hsa_circ_0015066 were significantly decreased. These altered circRNAs are involved in complicated biological functions and signaling pathways. Additionally, hsa_circ_0005577 (hsa_circ_FANCL), which was significantly increased in the moderate‐to‐severe BPD subjects, was correlated with oxygenation therapy. Conclusion These results suggest that an aberrant circRNA profile in the peripheral blood of BPD infants might be important in BPD pathogenesis.

Circular RNAs expression profiles and bioinformatics analysis in bronchopulmonary dysplasia

“…Additionally, in the pulmonary hypertension mice models, Zhang J et al identified the ceRNA network and further verified that the circ‐calm4/miR‐337‐3p/Myo10 signal transduction axis could modulate the proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells 21 . Although partially circRNAs have been implicated in the pathogenesis of BPD, further research is necessary to confirm these findings 19 …”

“…Considering this, mounting studies have focused initially on the epigenetic perspective and, more recently, on circRNAs to explore the molecular mechanisms of BPD 16 . Several studies have discovered that aberrant expression of circRNAs is associated with the pathogenesis of BPD 17–19 . First, Zou Z et al constructed a mice model of LPS‐induced lung injury to identify the different expression profiles of circRNAs.…”

“…21 Although partially circRNAs have been implicated in the pathogenesis of BPD, further research is necessary to confirm these findings. 19 Due to the difficulty of obtaining human lung tissues, peripheral blood is one of the most common substitution sources. 22 A growing number of studies have recently employed gene expression profiles obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) as both a method for pathogenesis research and a diagnostic tool for several lung diseases.…”

Circular RNAs in the Origin of Developmental Lung Disease: Promising Diagnostic and Therapeutic Biomarkers

“…In recent years, circRNAs have emerged as important regulatory molecules for cardiovascular and pulmonary development, as well as diseases of aberrant development [ 11 , 12 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Recent research has proven that genetic factors play an integral role in the progression of developmental lung diseases such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) [ 7 , 20 ] and neonatal acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Preterm birth can profoundly affect and delay cardiopulmonary development and transition contributing to BPD and neonatal ARDS [ 21 , 22 ].…”

circSLC8A1 Acts as a Tumor Suppressor in Prostate Cancer via Sponging miR-21

“…The reverse complementary sequence, containing the inverted repeat Alu pair and exon skipping, is essential for the formation of circRNA [5,6]. Genome and transcriptome data generated from the next generation sequencing (NGS) projects and bioinformatic algorithms have screened and defined numerous circRNAs in eukaryotes [7][8][9][10], revealing that they are not just casual byproducts or "splicing noise." High-throughput technology has been applied to in-depth characterize the identification and potential functions of circRNA [11,12].…”