Differential Expressions of circRNAs and Regulatory Mechanisms of ceRNA Network in Liver of Wilson’s Disease TX Mice

作者：Hong Chen, Wang Xie, Nian Peng, Yue Pu, Ye Hao, Yu Gui, Rui Zhang, Juan Zhang · 发表于：Journal of Inflammation Research · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.2147/jir.s489197 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Circular RNAs in diseases、Trace Elements in Health、Liver Diseases and Immunity

Background: Wilson's disease (WD) is a hereditary disorder characterized by an abnormality in copper metabolism. Liver fibrosis, and potentially cirrhosis, induced by copper accumulation are critical factors in the pathogenesis of WD. CircRNAs exhibit high stability and play crucial roles in numerous biological processes. Methods: RNA-seq technology was employed to conduct transcriptome sequencing of the liver from 12 homozygous (TX) mice in the model group (NL group) and 12 wild-type (WT) mice in the control group (N group). Differentially expressed circular RNAs (DE-circRNAs) were identified, and following GO and KEGG analysis, a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network was constructed. The identified DE-circRNAs were then randomly validated using RT-qPCR. Results: Utilizing RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), the study identified 54 DE-circRNAs in TX-j mice with WD-induced liver fibrosis model, among which 19 were up-regulated and 35 were down-regulated. GO analysis revealed multiple biological processes, including single-organism process, cellular process, and metabolic process. Further pathway identification using KEGG implicated several pathways, including the HIF-1, PI3K-Akt, AMPK, FoxO, signaling pathway regulating pluripotency of stem cells, phospholipase D, mTOR, Ras, cGMP-PKG, and MAPK signaling pathway, among others. A ceRNA regulatory network was constructed with 20 circRNAs, 7 miRNAs, and 75 mRNAs as crucial core components. Additionally, RT-qPCR validation w...