Hu Miaoyang, Wei Xufeng, Li Meng, Tao Ling, Wei Liping, Zhang Minxia, Cheng Hexiang, Yuan Yuan
Department of Cardiology, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University (Fourth Military Medical University); Xi'an-China.
Anatol J Cardiol. 2019 Jan;21(1):2-10. doi: 10.14744/AnatolJCardiol.2018.35902.
To investigate the expression profile of circular RNAs (circRNAs) and proposed circRNA-microRNA (miRNA) regulatory network in atrial fibrillation (AF).
Atrial tissues from patients with persistent AF with rheumatic heart disease and non-AF myocardium with normal hearts were collected for circRNA differential expression analyses by high-throughput sequencing. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed to predict the potential functions of the differentially expressed genes and AF-related pathways. Co-expression networks of circRNA-miRNA were constructed based on the correlation analyses between the differentially expressed RNAs. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to validate the results.
A total of 108 circRNAs were found to be differentially expressed in AF. Among them, 51 were up-regulated, and 57 were down-regulated. Dysregulated circRNAs were validated by quantitative real-time PCR. The GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were executed to determine the principal functions of the significantly deregulated genes. Furthermore, we constructed correlated expression networks between circRNAs and miRNAs. circRNA19591, circRNA19596, and circRNA16175 interacted with 36, 28, and 18 miRNAs, respectively; miR-29b-1-5p and miR-29b-2-5p were related to 12 down-regulated circRNAs, respectively.
Our findings provide a novel perspective on circRNAs involved in AF due to rheumatic heart disease and establish the foundation for future research of the potential roles of circRNAs in AF.
研究环状RNA（circRNA）的表达谱，并构建心房颤动（AF）中circRNA-微小RNA（miRNA）调控网络。
收集风湿性心脏病持续性AF患者的心房组织和正常心脏的非AF心肌组织，通过高通量测序进行circRNA差异表达分析。进行基因本体论（GO）和京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）通路富集分析，以预测差异表达基因的潜在功能和AF相关通路。基于差异表达RNA之间的相关性分析构建circRNA-miRNA共表达网络。采用定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（PCR）验证结果。
共发现108种circRNA在AF中差异表达。其中，51种上调，57种下调。通过定量实时PCR验证了失调的circRNA。进行GO和KEGG通路富集分析以确定显著失调基因的主要功能。此外，我们构建了circRNA与miRNA之间的相关表达网络。circRNA19591、circRNA19596和circRNA16175分别与36、28和18种miRNA相互作用；miR-29b-1-5p和miR-29b-2-5p分别与12种下调的circRNA相关。
我们的研究结果为风湿性心脏病所致AF中涉及的circRNA提供了新的视角，并为未来研究circRNA在AF中的潜在作用奠定了基础。
