Identification of Potential Biomarkers of Platelet RNA in Glioblastoma by Bioinformatics Analysis

Glioblastoma is one of the most common and fatal malignancies in adults. Current treatment is still not optimistic. Glioblastoma (GBM) transports RNA to platelets in the blood system via microvesicles, suggesting that platelet RNA can be a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target. The roles of specific platelet RNAs in treatment of GBM are not well understood.

Platelet RNA profiling of 8 GBM and 12 normal samples were downloaded from the GEO database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between tumors and normal samples. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were performed to elucidate the functions of up- and downregulated genes. miRNA was predicted by miRTarBase, TargetScan, and miRDB databases. circBase and circBank were used for circRNA prediction. ceRNA (circRNA-mRNA-miRNA) network was constructed to investigate the potential interactions.

22 genes were upregulated and 9 genes were downregulated. There are only two genes (CCR7 and FAM102A) that connect to miRNAs (hsa-let-7a-5p, hsa-miR-1-3p). We assessed the overall survival rates by Kaplan-Meier plotter, and relative expression of GBM and subtypes for overlapped mRNA (CCR7 and FAM102A) were evaluated, and further, we obtained circRNAs (has-circ-0015164, hsa-circ-0003243) by circBank and circBase and bind sites through the CSCD database. Finally, a ceRNA network (circRNA-mRNA-miRNA) was constructed based on 2 miRNAs, 2 mRNAs, and 2 circRNAs by Cytoscape. This study focused on potential mRNA and ceRNA biomarkers to targeted treatment of GBM and provided ideas for clinical treatment through the combination of hematology and oncology.

The findings of this study contribute to better understand the relationship between GBM and the blood system (platelets) and might lay a solid foundation for improving GBM molecule and gene diagnosis and prognosis.