Altered expression of circular RNAs in Moyamoya disease.

Abstract

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is the most common pediatric cerebrovascular disease in Eastern Asian countries but the etiology is not well understood. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been implicated in various biological processes, but their role in the development of MMD remains unclear. To address this issue, we carried out a comparative circRNA microarray analysis of blood samples obtained from patients with MMD and healthy subjects and identified 146 circRNAs that were differentially expressed between the two groups. Of these, 29 were upregulated and 117 were downregulated in patients as compared to controls (fold change ≥2.0 and P<0.05). The microarray results were validated by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses revealed that the differentially expressed circRNAs were primarily involved in angiogenesis, metabolism, and immune responses in MMD. In addition, the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway was found to be the core regulatory pathway associated with disease pathogenesis. These results indicate that specific circRNAs are aberrantly expressed in MMD and are potential therapeutic targets for its treatment.

• Authors: Meng Zhao, Faliang Gao, Dong Zhang, Shuo Wang, Yan Zhang, Rong Wang, Jizong Zhao
• Journal: Journal of the neurological sciences (J Neurol Sci) Vol. 381 Pg. 25-31 (Oct 15 2017) ISSN: 1878-5883 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 28991692 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Chemical References

• RNA, Circular
• RNA

Topics

• Adult
• Case-Control Studies
• Computational Biology
• Female
• Gene Ontology
• Humans
• Male
• Microarray Analysis
• Moyamoya Disease (genetics, metabolism)
• Prospective Studies
• RNA (metabolism)
• RNA, Circular
• Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction