Role of circ_0012856 in modulating molecular pathways of diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Area of Science:

• Molecular biology
• Genetics
• Immunology

Background:

• Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a common diabetes mellitus complication.
• DPN pathogenesis involves intricate molecular pathways and the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify key circular RNAs (circRNAs) involved in DPN pathogenesis.
• To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of identified circRNAs in DPN.
• To explore potential therapeutic targets for DPN.

Main Methods:

• Integration of diabetes-related circRNA datasets.
• Application of least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) algorithms.
• In vitro and in vivo experiments in cell and animal models.

Main Results:

• Circ_0012856 was identified as a pivotal circRNA in DPN.
• Circ_0012856 regulates EZH2 and STAT3 expression, inhibits autophagy, and promotes microglial M1 polarization.
• Silencing circ_0012856 alleviated DPN symptoms in diabetic mice.
• Circ_0012856 functions as a miR-124 sponge.

Conclusions:

• Circ_0012856 plays a critical role in DPN progression.
• Circ_0012856 influences key pathways, including inflammation and autophagy, in DPN.
• Circ_0012856 represents a potential therapeutic target for DPN.