Circular RNA profile of infantile hemangioma by microarray analysis.

BACKGROUND: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a recently identified class of noncoding RNAs that participate in several physiological processes. However, the expression of circRNAs in infantile hemangioma (IH) remains unknown.

METHODS: The profile of circRNAs was assessed by microarray in four pairs of IH and adjacent skin tissues. The expression of circRNAs was validated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Furthermore, circRNA-microRNAs (miRNA)-mRNA networks were constructed using bioinformatics tools.

RESULTS: 234 up- and 374 down- regulated circRNAs were identified in IH by microarray. Among them, the expression of two up-regulated circRNAs (hsa_circRNA_100933 and hsa_circRNA_100709) and one down-regulated circRNA (hsa_circRNA_104310) was confirmed by qRT-PCR. In addition, 3,019 miRNA response elements (MREs) of circRNAs were predicted, and two circRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks were constructed, including 100 and 94 target genes of hsa_circRNA_100933 and hsa_circRNA_104310, respectively. GO and pathway analysis showed that both networks participated in angiogenesis and vascular development-related biological processes.

CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to reveal the profiling of circRNAs in IH and pave the way for further characterization of the role of circRNAs in the pathogenesis of IH.