Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215000, China.
J Biosci. 2021;46(2). doi: 10.1007/s12038-021-00152-8.
Circular RNA (circRNA) plays an important role in the regulation of multiple biological processes. However, circRNA profiling and the potential biological role of circRNA in influenza A virus (IAV)-induced lung injury have not been investigated. In the present study, circRNA expression profiles in lung tissues from mice with and without IAV-induced lung injury were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing, and differentially expressed circRNAs were verified by quantitative PCR. The gene homology of candidate circRNAs was investigated and the expression of plasma circRNAs from patients with IAV-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was detected. The target microRNAs (miRNAs) of circRNAs were predicted. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were performed. In total, 781 circRNAs were differentially expressed between ARDS mice and control (467 were up-regulated and 314 were down-regulated). Moreover, the candidate circRNAs (Slco3a1, Nfatc2, Wdr33, and Dmd) expression showed the same trend with the sequencing results. The isoforms of circRNA Slco3a1 and Wdr33 were highly conserved between humans and mice. Plasma circRNA Slco3a1 and Wdr33 presented differential expression in patients with IAV-induced ARDS compared to control. The circRNAmiRNA interaction network and GO and KEGG analyses indicated the potential biological role of circRNAs in the development of IAV-induced lung injury. Taken together, a large number of differentially expressed circRNAs were identified in our study. CircRNA Slco3a1 and Wdr33 had significantly different expression in specimens from mice and humans, and showed a potential biological role in IAV-induced lung injury by bioinformatics analysis.
环状 RNA（circRNA）在多种生物过程的调节中发挥重要作用。然而，circRNA 谱分析以及 circRNA 在甲型流感病毒（IAV）诱导的肺损伤中的潜在生物学作用尚未得到研究。在本研究中，使用高通量测序分析了有无 IAV 诱导的肺损伤的小鼠肺组织中的 circRNA 表达谱，并通过定量 PCR 验证了差异表达的 circRNA。研究了候选 circRNA 的基因同源性，并检测了 IAV 诱导的急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS）患者的血浆 circRNA 表达。预测了 circRNA 的靶 microRNA（miRNA）。进行了基因本体论（GO）和京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）分析。总共，在 ARDS 小鼠和对照小鼠之间有 781 个 circRNA 表达差异（467 个上调，314 个下调）。此外，候选 circRNA（Slco3a1、Nfatc2、Wdr33 和 Dmd）的表达与测序结果具有相同的趋势。Slco3a1 和 Wdr33 的 circRNA 异构体在人类和小鼠之间高度保守。与对照相比，IAV 诱导的 ARDS 患者的血浆 circRNA Slco3a1 和 Wdr33 呈现出不同的表达。circRNA-miRNA 相互作用网络以及 GO 和 KEGG 分析表明 circRNA 在 IAV 诱导的肺损伤发展中具有潜在的生物学作用。总之，本研究中鉴定了大量差异表达的 circRNA。circRNA Slco3a1 和 Wdr33 在来自小鼠和人类的标本中的表达有显著差异，并且通过生物信息学分析显示出在 IAV 诱导的肺损伤中具有潜在的生物学作用。
