The Landscape of Circular RNA Expression Profiles in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Based on RNA Sequencing

Xiabin Lan; Jiajie Xu; Chao Chen; Chuanming Zheng; Jiafeng Wang; Jun Cao; Xuhang Zhu; Minghua Ge

doi:10.1159/000490188

The Landscape of Circular RNA Expression Profiles in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Based on RNA Sequencing

Cell Physiol Biochem. 2018;47(3):1122-1132. doi: 10.1159/000490188. Epub 2018 May 25.

Authors

Xiabin Lan^{1

2}, Jiajie Xu^{1

2}, Chao Chen^{1

2}, Chuanming Zheng^{1

2}, Jiafeng Wang^{1

2}, Jun Cao², Xuhang Zhu^{1

2}, Minghua Ge^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
² Key Laboratory of Head & Neck Cancer Translational Research of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Cancer Research, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, China.

PMID: 29847813
DOI: 10.1159/000490188

Abstract

Background/aims: Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common type of thyroid cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for its tumorigenesis and progression remain largely unknown. Circular RNA (circRNA) is a novel type of noncoding RNA that can serve as an ideal biomarker due to its stability. Recent evidence suggests that circRNAs play important roles in tumorigenesis. This study aims to investigate circRNA expression profiles and their potential biological functions in PTC.

Methods: High-throughput RNA sequencing was used to assess circRNA expression profiles in PTC, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to validate dysregulated circRNAs. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to evaluate the diagnostic value of circRNAs for PTC. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were employed to determine the biological functions of differentially expressed circRNAs. Bioinformatic analyses were applied to predict interactions between circRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs), and a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network was constructed using Cytoscape software.

Results: We identified a number of differentially expressed circRNAs in PTC tissues compared with paired normal thyroid tissues, with chr5: 160757890-160763776-, chr12: 40696591-40697936+, chr7: 22330794-22357656-, and chr21: 16386665-16415895- being upregulated, and chr7: 91924203-91957214+, chr2: 179514891-179516047-, chr9: 16435553-16437522-, and chr22: 36006931-36007153- being downregulated. These findings were confirmed by qRT-PCR, and ROC curves indicated that they can serve as potential biomarkers for PTC. GO and KEGG pathway analyses showed that some of these circRNAs are related to cancers. Additionally, bioinformatic analyses revealed a potential competing-endogenous-RNA-regulating network among circRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs.

Conclusions: Our study results depict the landscape of circRNA expression profiles in PTC and also provide potential biomarkers for PTC. Further functional and mechanistic studies of these circRNAs may improve our understanding of PTC tumorigenesis.

Keywords: Circular RNA; MicroRNA; Papillary thyroid carcinoma; RNA sequencing.

MeSH terms

Adult
Carcinoma, Papillary* / genetics
Carcinoma, Papillary* / metabolism
Carcinoma, Papillary* / pathology
Female
Gene Expression Profiling*
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic*
High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
RNA, Neoplasm* / biosynthesis
RNA, Neoplasm* / genetics
Thyroid Cancer, Papillary
Thyroid Neoplasms* / genetics
Thyroid Neoplasms* / metabolism
Thyroid Neoplasms* / pathology

Substances

RNA, Neoplasm