RNA-Seq Profiling of Serum Exosomal Circular RNAs Reveals Circ-PNN as a Potential Biomarker for Human Colorectal...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Molecular Biology
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are increasingly recognized as key players in non-coding RNA research.
• Exosomal circRNAs are emerging as promising biomarkers for cancer detection.
• The clinical utility of serum exosomal circRNAs in colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the clinical applicability of serum exosomal circRNAs for colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis.
• To identify and validate specific circRNAs as potential non-invasive biomarkers for CRC.
• To explore the diagnostic and pathogenetic role of circ-PNN in CRC.

Main Methods:

• RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis of serum samples from 50 CRC patients and 50 healthy controls.
• Validation of differentially expressed circRNAs using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to assess diagnostic accuracy; network analysis for miRNA-mRNA interactions.

Main Results:

• RNA-seq identified 122 differentially expressed circRNAs in CRC patients (100 up-regulated, 22 down-regulated).
• Serum exosomal circ-PNN (hsa_circ_0101802) was significantly up-regulated in CRC cases.
• ROC analysis demonstrated high diagnostic value for circ-PNN (AUC 0.855 training, 0.826 validation), including early-stage CRC (AUC 0.854).
• circ-PNN showed negative correlations with hsa-miR-6833-3P, hsa-let-7i-3p, and hsa-miR-1301-3P.

Conclusions:

• Serum exosomal circ-PNN is a potential non-invasive biomarker for colorectal cancer (CRC) detection.
• circ-PNN exhibits significant diagnostic value for CRC, even in early stages.
• circ-PNN may play a role in CRC pathogenesis and its interactions with specific microRNAs warrant further investigation.