AUTHOR=Sun Wei , Han Bo , Cai Dongxiao , Wang Jing , Jiang Diandong , Jia Hailin 

TITLE=Differential Expression Profiles and Functional Prediction of Circular RNAs in Pediatric Dilated Cardiomyopathy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2020.600170

DOI=10.3389/fmolb.2020.600170

ISSN=2296-889X

ABSTRACT=Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have emerged as essential regulators and biomarkers of various disease. To assess differential expression levels of circRNAs in pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy (PDCM) and explore their biological and mechanistic significance. RNA microarrays were used to identify differentially expressed circRNAs between three children diagnosed PDCM and three healthy age-matched volunteers. Biological function of circRNAs was assessed with a circRNA-microRNA (miRNA)-mRNA interaction network constructed from Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG). Differentially expressed circRNAs were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in 25 children with PDCM and 25 healthy volunteers. We identified 257 up-regulated (fold change≤0.5, P<0.05) and 899 down-regulated (fold change≥2, P<0.05) circRNAs in PDCM patients when compared to healthy volunteers. The qRT-PCR experiments confirmed has_circ_0067735 down-regulation (0.45-fold, P<0.001), has_circ_0070186 up-regulation (2.82-fold, P<0.001) and has_circ_0069972 down-regulation (0.50-fold, P<0.05). Functional analysis of these differentially expressed circRNAs suggests they are associated with hypertrophy, remodeling, fibrosis, and autoimmunity. CircRNAs have been implicated in PDCM through largely unknown mechanisms. Here, we report differentially expressed circRNAs in PDCM patients that may illuminate mechanistic roles in the etiology of PDCM and could serve as non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers.