Transcriptome sequencing showed the differential expression of circRNAs in human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells in acute respiratory distress syndrome

作者：Nan Wang, Yongheng Gao, Peini Xue, Salim Surani, Gary Schwartz, Ruina Ma, Yanyan Li, Wei Liu · 发表于：Journal of Thoracic Disease · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.21037/jtd-2025-1038 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Circular RNAs in diseases、Inflammation biomarkers and pathways、GDF15 and Related Biomarkers

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by elevated pulmonary microvascular permeability; however, the role of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in this process remains unclear. Our study aims to discover the mechanism underlying the role of circRNA in pulmonary microvascular permeability in ARDS. Methods: model of ARDS using cultured human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) and lipopolysaccharide challenge. Genome sequencing revealed significant differences among the cells in the expression of circRNA. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses of the target genes were conducted. A circRNA-microRNA (miRNA)-messenger RNA (mRNA) competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was constructed. The GO enrichment analysis of the target genes in the ceRNA network was analyzed. Results: The genome sequencing results identified 379 significantly upregulated circRNAs and 448 significantly downregulated circRNAs. The 10 circRNAs with the greatest degree of upregulation and the 10 circRNAs with the greatest degree of downregulation were identified. The GO enrichment analysis results indicated that differential circRNA expression may mediate the cellular response to DNA damage, including DNA repair. The KEGG analysis results indicated that the mechanism by which differential circRNA expression exerts these effects may involve the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathway. The GO enrichment analysis of...