Wang Xinxin, Li Shaogang, Ou Rijing, Pang Wending, Wang Yingying, Zhang Yifan, Lin Yu, Yang Changlin, Chen Wei, Lei Changgui, Zeng Guodan, Zhou Wenwen, Wang Yeqin, Yin Jianhua, Zhang Haiqiang, Jin Xin, Zhang Yan
School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
BGI Research, Shenzhen, China.
RNA Biol. 2025 Dec;22(1):1-15. doi: 10.1080/15476286.2025.2481736. Epub 2025 Mar 31.
Circulating cell-free RNA (cfRNA) has emerged as a promising analyte for disease detection. However, the comprehensive profiling of diverse cfRNA types remains under-characterized. Here, we applied a new wide-spectrum cfRNA sequencing method and simultaneously captured rRNA, tRNA, mRNA, miRNA, lncRNA and all mitochondrial RNA. The cfRNA compositions, size distributions and highly abundant cfRNA genes were analysed for each type of cfRNA. We depicted the cfRNA cell types of origin profiles of 66 generally healthy individuals and found that BMI showed a significant impact on the kidney-derived cfRNA proportion. Three individuals with some liver problems were identified because of relatively high levels of hepatocyte-specific cfRNA. The abundance levels of different genes and RNA types, including mRNA, miRNA and lncRNA, were significantly correlated with the liver function test results. The genes of individual cfRNA variances were enriched in pathways associated with common diseases such as liver diseases, virus infections, cancers and metabolic diseases. This study provided a profiling of cfRNA and displayed the potential of cfRNA as a biomarker in health monitoring.
循环游离RNA（cfRNA）已成为一种很有前景的疾病检测分析物。然而，对多种cfRNA类型的全面分析仍不够充分。在此，我们应用了一种新的广谱cfRNA测序方法，同时捕获了rRNA、tRNA、mRNA、miRNA、lncRNA和所有线粒体RNA。对每种类型的cfRNA分析了其组成、大小分布和高度丰富的cfRNA基因。我们描绘了66名一般健康个体的cfRNA细胞起源类型谱，发现体重指数（BMI）对肾脏来源的cfRNA比例有显著影响。由于肝细胞特异性cfRNA水平相对较高，确定了三名有一些肝脏问题的个体。包括mRNA、miRNA和lncRNA在内的不同基因和RNA类型的丰度水平与肝功能测试结果显著相关。个体cfRNA变异的基因在与肝脏疾病、病毒感染、癌症和代谢疾病等常见疾病相关的途径中富集。本研究提供了cfRNA的分析谱，并展示了cfRNA作为健康监测生物标志物的潜力。
