A Potential circRNA-miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network in Asthmatic Airway Epithelial Cells Identified by Integrated Analysis of Microarray Datasets.

Aug 5, 2021

Contributor: Dian Chen,Wenliang Wu,Lingling Yi,Yuchen Feng,Chenli Chang,Shengchong Chen,Jiali Gao,Gongqi Chen,Guohua Zhen

A Potential circRNA-miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network in Asthmatic Airway Epithelial Cells Identified by Integrated Analysis of Microarray Datasets.

Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic respiratory diseases worldwide. Bronchial epithelial cells play a critical role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) act as microRNA (miRNA) sponges to regulate downstream gene expression. However, the role of epithelial circRNAs in asthma remains to be investigated. This study aims to explore the potential circRNA-miRNA-messenger RNA (mRNA) regulatory network in asthma by integrated analysis of publicly available microarray datasets. Five mRNA microarray datasets derived from bronchial brushing samples from asthma patients and control subjects were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The robust rank aggregation (RRA) method was used to identify robust differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in bronchial epithelial cells between asthma patients and controls. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were used to annotate the functions of the DEGs. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis was performed to identify hub genes. Three miRNA databases (Targetscan, miRDB, and miRWalk) were used to predict the miRNAs which potentially target the hub genes. A miRNA microarray dataset derived from bronchial brushings was used to validate the miRNA-mRNA relationships. Finally, a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network was constructed via the ENCORI database. A total of 127 robust DEGs in bronchial epithelial cells between steroid-naïve asthma patients ( = 272) and healthy controls ( = 165) were identified from five mRNA microarray datasets. Enrichment analyses showed that DEGs were mainly enriched in several biological processes related to asthma, including humoral immune response, salivary secretion, and IL-17 signaling pathway. Nineteen hub genes were identified and were used to construct a potential epithelial circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network. The top 10 competing endogenous RNAs were , , , , , , , , , and . Our study reveals a potential role for epithelial circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network in the pathogenesis of asthma.
Copyright © 2021 Chen, Wu, Yi, Feng, Chang, Chen, Gao, Chen and Zhen.

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About The Expert

Dian Chen

Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China, and National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Wuhan, China.

Wenliang Wu

Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China, and National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Wuhan, China.

Lingling Yi

Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China, and National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Wuhan, China.

Yuchen Feng

Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China, and National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Wuhan, China.

Chenli Chang

Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China, and National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Wuhan, China.

Shengchong Chen

Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China, and National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Wuhan, China.

Jiali Gao

Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China, and National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Wuhan, China.

Gongqi Chen

Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China, and National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Wuhan, China.

Guohua Zhen

Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China, and National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Wuhan, China.

References

PubMed