Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Department of Rheumatology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Clin Chim Acta. 2018 May;480:17-25. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2018.01.026. Epub 2018 Feb 20.
Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel class of widespread endogenous noncoding RNAs, have been involved in the development of various diseases, including atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and several types of cancers, but there is little knowledge about their associations with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study is aimed to identify the expression profiles of circRNAs in 6 paired SLE and normal participants plasma samples by using a circRNA microarray. The microarray analysis showed that 207 circRNAs were differentially expressed between these two groups, including 113 upregulated and 94 downregulated circRNAs. Then, we selected 8 circRNAs as candidate biomarkers from the microarray analysis and further verified them in another group of subjects consisting of 24 SLE patients and 24 normal controls using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays (qRT-PCR). Finally, we confirmed four circRNAs that were consistent with the microarray results. In addition, bioinformatics was employed to predict the interaction between validated circRNAs and potential miRNA targets. Taken together, we firstly illustrate the comprehensive expression profiles of circRNAs in SLE patients plasma and lay the foundations to develop circRNAs as novel non-invasive biomarkers for SLE disease in the future.
环状 RNA（circRNAs）是一类新型的广泛存在的内源性非编码 RNA，已涉及多种疾病的发展，包括动脉粥样硬化、阿尔茨海默病和几种类型的癌症，但对其与系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）的相关性知之甚少。本研究旨在通过 circRNA 微阵列鉴定 6 对 SLE 和正常参与者血浆样本中 circRNAs 的表达谱。微阵列分析显示，这两组之间有 207 个 circRNAs 存在差异表达，包括 113 个上调和 94 个下调的 circRNAs。然后，我们从微阵列分析中选择了 8 个 circRNAs 作为候选生物标志物，并使用定量实时聚合酶链反应（qRT-PCR）检测方法在另一组由 24 例 SLE 患者和 24 例正常对照组成的受试者中进一步验证。最后，我们验证了与微阵列结果一致的四个 circRNAs。此外，还进行了生物信息学分析以预测验证的 circRNAs 和潜在 miRNA 靶之间的相互作用。总之，我们首次描述了 SLE 患者血浆中 circRNAs 的综合表达谱，并为将来开发 circRNAs 作为 SLE 疾病的新型非侵入性生物标志物奠定了基础。
