Crosstalk in competing endogenous RNA networks reveals new circular RNAs involved in the pathogenesis of early HIV infection

作者：Yue Zhang, Hui Zhang, Minghui An, Bin Zhao, Haibo Ding, Zining Zhang, You-Wen He, Hong Shang, Xiaoxu Han · 发表于：Journal of Translational Medicine · 年份：2018 · DOI：10.1186/s12967-018-1706-1 · 被引用次数：57 · 研究领域：Circular RNAs in diseases、MicroRNA in disease regulation、GDF15 and Related Biomarkers

BACKGROUND: The events in early HIV infection (EHI) are important determinants of disease severity and progression rate to AIDS, but the mechanisms of pathogenesis in EHI have not been fully understood. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been verified as "microRNA sponges" that regulate gene expression through competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks, but circRNA expression profiles and their contribution to EHI pathogenesis are still unclear. METHODS: Two different libraries were constructed with RNA from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 3 HARRT-naive EHI patients and 3 healthy controls (HCs). The complete transcriptomes were sequenced with RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and miRNA sequencing (miRNA-Seq). The differentially expressed (DE) RNAs were validated with RT-qPCR. The circRNA profile and circRNA-associated-ceRNA network in EHI were analyzed with the integrated data of RNA-Seq and miRNA-Seq. Gene ontology (GO) analysis was used to annotate the circRNAs involved in the circRNA-associated-ceRNA networks. RESULTS: A total of 1365 circRNAs, 30 miRNAs, and 2049 mRNAs were differentially expressed between HARRT-naive EHI patients and HCs. A ceRNA network was constructed with 516 DE circRNAs and 903 DE mRNAs that shared miR response elements with 21 DE miRNAs. GO analysis demonstrated the multiple roles of the circRNAs enriched in EHI with circRNA-associated-ceRNA networks, such as immune response, inflammatory response and defense responses to virus, 67 circRNAs were reve...