Differentially expressed circRNA and mRNA profiles of neural stem cells with radiation treatment

Abstract:Background: Spine metastasis is common but highly problematic in clinical oncology practice. Radiotherapy plays an important role in treatment of spine metastasis but damages nervous tissue, especially neural stem cells (NSCs), and leads to radiation-induced myelopathy. Circular RNA (circRNA) is a type of noncoding RNA that responds to external stimuli and regulates cellular functions. However, the mechanism by which radiotherapy affects NSCs and the role of circRNAs in this process are still unclear.Methods: circRNAs and mRNAs in NSCs treated with or without radiation were detected using next-generation sequencing. RT-PCR assays were performed to confirm the sequencing results and differentially expressed circRNAs. Bioinformatic analyses were conducted to identify the critical circRNAs and mRNAs, as well as the enriched functions and pathways. Moreover, a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network was constructed to investigate the possible regulatory mechanism.Results: A total of 421 differentially expressed circRNAs and 1602 differentially expressed mRNAs were identified in NSCs after radiotherapy. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses of the differentially expressed mRNAs and of the host genes of the differentially expressed circRNAs were performed, and several key signaling pathways, such as the MAPK signaling pathway, were identified. Moreover, a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network focusing on the MAPK signaling pathway was constructed and predicted that chr5:127160496|127165240 could be a critical circRNA in the mechanism underlying the response of NSCs to radiation treatment.Conclusion: Our findings reveal the differentially expressed circRNA and mRNA profiles of NSCs after radiotherapy and suggest that circRNAs may contribute to the pathogenesis of radiation-induced myelopathy.Trial registration: N/A