Diagnostic and prognostic roles of circ-SHPRH for solid cancers: a meta-analysis

Serum circRNA_100199 is a Prognostic Biomarker in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Background

An aberrant level of serum microRNA expression has been demonstrated to be a prognostic marker for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The therapeutic relevance of serum circRNA 100199 remained unknown, however. This research aimed to investigate the probable prognostic significance of serum circRNA_100199 for AML.

Methods

This study included a total of 200 participants consisting of 114 AML-diagnosed patients and 86 healthy people. Blood samples were taken, and the level of circRNA_100199 in the serum was measured using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to explore its potential clinical significance.

Results

Our study demonstrated that circRNA_100199 expression in the serum was substantially higher in AML subjects than in healthy persons. This increase in serum circRNA_100199 levels was particularly noticeable in M4/M5 subtype AML patients, and those with poor cytogenetic risk or higher white blood cell counts. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, AML cases were effectively differentiated from healthy persons based on the level of serum circRNA_100199. Furthermore, it was found that high serum circRNA_100199 expression was strongly linked with shorter survival times and more severe clinical features. Our study also confirmed that high serum circRNA_100199 expression was an independent predictor of relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in AML patients. Interestingly, the serum expression level of circRNA_100199 was significantly reduced following treatment, and its levels were substantially lower in AML patients who achieved complete remission (CR) than those who did not.

Conclusion

Overall, these findings suggest that serum circRNA_100199 has the potential to be a favorable prognostic biomarker for AML.

The emerging roles of circRNAs in traits associated with livestock breeding

Many indicators can be used to evaluate the productivity and quality of livestock, such as meat and milk production as well as fat deposition. Meat and milk production are measures of livestock performance, while fat deposition affects the taste and flavor of the meat. The circRNAs, are non-coding RNAs, that are involved in the regulation of all these three traits. We review the functions and mechanisms of circRNAs in muscle and fat development as well as lactation to provide a theoretical basis for circRNA research in animal husbandry. Various phenotypic changes presented in livestock may be produced by different circRNAs. Our current concern is how to use the roles played by circRNAs to our advantage to produce the best possible livestock. Hence, we describe the advantages and disadvantages of knockout techniques for circRNAs. In addition, we also put forward our thoughts regarding the mechanism and network of circRNAs to provide researchers with novel ideas of how molecular biology can help us advance our goals in animal farming. This article is categorized under: RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Disease RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Protein-RNA Interactions: Functional Implications RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Protein-RNA Recognition RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > RNA-Protein Complexes.

Circ-SHPRH in human cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Circular RNA (circRNA) molecules are noncoding RNAs with ring-like structures formed by covalent bonds and are characterized by no 5'caps or 3'polyadenylated tails. Increasing evidence shows that circRNAs may play an important role in tumorigenesis and cancer metastasis. Circ-SHPRH originates from exons 26-29 of the SHPRH gene, and it is closely associated with human cancers. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases for relevant literatures until 24 December 2022. Eighteen research papers were included in this review, and 11 papers were selected for meta-analysis after screening. Three eligible published studies about circ-SHPRH were enrolled based on their tumor diagnosis aspect, 7 eligible published studies were related to overall survival (OS), and 3 eligible published studies were related to tumor grade. Many studies have shown that circ-SHPRH acts as a miRNA sponge or encodes a protein to regulate downstream genes or signal pathways, and exerts specific biological functions that affect the proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis of cancer cells. Meta-analysis showed that patients with high expression of circ-SHPRH had better OS (HR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.38-0.74, p-value <0.05) and lower TNM stage (HR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.18-0.62, p-value = 0.001). In addition, circ-SHPRH has potential diagnostic value (AUC = 0.8357). This review will help enrich our understanding of the role and mechanism of circ-SHPRH in human cancers. Circ-SHPRH has the potential to be a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for various solid cancers.

Investigation of the clinicopathological and prognostic role of circMTO1 in multiple cancers

OBJECTIVE

To observe the prognostic value of circular RNA mitochondrial tRNA translation optimization 1 (circMTO1) in human tumors.

METHODS

We searched multiple databases for related reports published before November 01, 2021. The OR/HR and 95% CI were extracted to explore the correlation between circMTO1 expression and clinicopathological features in various cancers. The stability of the results from meta-analysis was estimated via sensitivity analysis. We adopted Begg's funnel plots and Egger's test to appraise the potential bias of publication. Subgroup analysis for overall survival (OS) were also performed.

RESULTS

11 studies containing 1383 patients and 4 articles including 536 patients were enrolled. We found that low expression status of circMTO1 was significantly related to big tumor size (OR=2.11, 95% CI: 1.26-3.56, P<0.05), poor differentiation tumors (OR=2.09, 95% CI: 1.46-2.98, P<0.05), OS (HR=2.02, 95% CI: 1.63-2.50, P<0.05), disease-free survival (DFS) (HR=1.83, 95% CI: 1.27-2.56, P<0.05) of cancers. Subgroup analysis indicated that low expression status of circMTO1 was correlated with OS, regardless of analysis method, cut-off value, case number and NOS score.

CONCLUSIONS

The low expression of circMTO1 may predict big tumor size, poor differentiation and worse outcome of cancer, presenting that circMTO1 may be a useful biomarker for prognosis of tumors.

Prognostic and diagnostic value of circRNA expression in prostate cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are receiving increasing attention as novel biomarkers. Our goal was to investigate the diagnostic, clinicopathological, and prognostic utility of circRNAs in prostate cancer (PCa).

METHODS

Relevant literature was searched in PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE. Sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), and the area under the curve (AUC) were calculated to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of circRNA expression. circRNAs' clinical, pathological, and prognostic value was examined using pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs).

RESULTS

This meta-analysis included 23 studies, with 5 for diagnosis, 16 for clinicopathological parameters, and 10 for prognosis. For diagnostic value, the pooled sensitivity, pooled specificity, PLR, NLR, DOR, and AUC were 0.82, 0.62, 2.17, 0.29, 7.37, and 0.81, respectively. Upregulation of carcinogenic circRNAs was associated with poor clinical parameters (Gleason score: OR = 0.222, 95% CI: 0.145-0.340; T classification: OR = 0.274, 95% CI: 0.175-0.430; lymph node metastasis: OR = 0.353, 95% CI: 0.175-0.716; tumor size: OR = 0.226, 95% CI: 0.099-0.518) and could predict poor survival outcomes (HR = 2.408, 95% CI: 1.559-3.720, p < 0.001). Conversely, downregulation of tumor-suppressor circRNAs was also associated with poor clinical parameters (Gleason score: OR = 1.689, 95% CI: 1.144-2.493; T classification: OR = 2.586, 95% CI: 1.779-3.762) and worse prognosis (HR = 1.739, 95% CI: 1.147-2.576, p = 0.006).

CONCLUSION

Our results showed that circRNAs might be useful biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of PCa.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42021284785.

Hsa_circ_0001020 Serves as a Potential Biomarker for Gastric Cancer Screening and Prognosis

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are an intriguing class of RNAs with covalently closed-loop structures. With characteristics of high stability and disease-specific expression, circRNAs are emerging as ideal targets for cancer therapy. However, the screening utility and clinical value of circRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) remain largely elusive. We detected levels of hsa_circ_0001020 in cell lines and tissue and plasma samples and investigated its clinicopathological correlations. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and regression analyses were used to analyze its prognostic value. Receiver operating characteristic curves and biomarker combinations were examined to verify its screening value. Bioinformatics analysis was also performed to predict potential biological functions. Our tests found that hsa_circ_0001020 was significantly upregulated in GC cell lines, GC tissue samples, and even in plasma. High hsa_circ_0001020 expression levels in GC tissues were significantly associated with distal metastasis and blood carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). GC patients with high hsa_circ_0001020 had a lower overall survival and disease-free survival time than the low levels. Regression analysis suggested that the level of hsa_circ_0001020 expression was an independent prognostic factor for survival time. As a biomarker for GC, hsa_circ_0001020 showed a superior AUC, sensitivity, and specificity than carcinoembryonic antigen and CA19-9, and was suitable for combination with clinical tumor biomarkers. Bioinformatics analysis provided valuable clues for the possible oncogenic pathways of GC, such as the FoxO and p53 signaling pathways. In conclusion, our study found that hsa_circ_0001020 in GC could be a reliable biomarker to screen for GC and predict prognosis.

Novel insights into noncanonical open reading frames in cancer

With technological advances, previously neglected noncanonical open reading frames (nORFs) are drawing ever-increasing attention. However, the translation potential of numerous putative nORFs remains elusive, and the functions of noncanonical peptides have not been systemically summarized. Moreover, the relationship between noncanonical peptides and their counterpart protein or RNA products remains elusive and the clinical implementation of noncanonical peptides has not been explored. In this review, we highlight how recent technological advances such as ribosome profiling, bioinformatics approaches and CRISPR/Cas9 facilitate the research of noncanonical peptides. We delineate the features of each nORF category and the evolutionary process underneath the nORFs. Most importantly, we summarize the diversified functions of noncanonical peptides in cancer based on their subcellular location, which reflect their extensive participation in key pathways and essential cellular activities in cancer cells. Meanwhile, the equilibrium between noncanonical peptides and their corresponding transcripts or counterpart products may be dysregulated under pathological states, which is essential for their roles in cancer. Lastly, we explore their underestimated potential in clinical application as diagnostic biomarkers and treatment targets against cancer.

Circ-SHPRH suppresses cadmium-induced transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells by regulating QKI expression via miR-224-5p

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been demonstrated to play critical roles in the pathogenesis of human cancers and carcinogenesis of several environmental pollutants. Nevertheless, the function of circRNAs in cadmium carcinogenesis is unclear. circ-SHPRH is down-regulated in many cancers including non-small cell lung cancer. In our present study, during cadmium-induced transformation of human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was induced. Meanwhile, at the middle and late stages of cell transformation, cadmium down-regulated the expression of circ-SHPRH, as well as QKI, a tumor suppressor protein known to prevent the proliferation and EMT during progression of human cancers, compared with passage-matched control BEAS-2B cells. Overexpression of circ-SHPRH in cadmium-transformed BEAS-2B cells promoted the expression of QKI and significantly inhibited proliferation, EMT, invasion, migration and anchorage-independent growth in soft agar of the cells. Mechanistic studies showed that circ-SHPRH functioned as a sponge of miR-224-5p to regulate QKI expression. Interestingly, QKI and circ-SHPRH could form a positive-feedback loop that perpetuated circ-SHPRH/miR-224-5p/QKI axis. Collectively, our results demonstrated that circ-SHPRH inhibited cadmium-induced transformation of BEAS-2B cells through sponging miR-224-5p to regulate QKI expression under cadmium treatment. Our study uncovered a novel molecular mechanism involved in circRNAs in the development of lung cancer due to cadmium exposure.

Clinicopathologic and prognostic roles of circular RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 in various cancers

OBJECTIVE

To explore the clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of circular RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (circPVT1) in various cancers.

METHODS

Several databases were searched for eligible studies published before March 01, 2021. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated to assess the association between circPVT1 expression and prognostic outcomes of tumor including age, gender, clinical stage, tumor size, metastasis and overall survival. Begg's funnel plots and Egger's test were used to evaluate the publication bias. The robustness of our results was assessed using sensitivity analysis.

RESULTS

Ten studies comprising a total of 878 patients with cancer were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that the high expression of circPVT1 was significantly related to clinical stage (OR=3.44, 95% CI: 2.40-4.94, P<0.05), tumor size (OR=2.29, 95% CI: 1.38-3.79, P<0.05), metastasis (OR=2.97, 95% CI: 2.06-4.28, p<0.05) and overall survival of cancer (OR=3.30, 95% CI: 2.26-4.84, p<0.05), but not associated with age and gender of patients with tumor. No publication bias was found.

CONCLUSIONS

High expression of circPVT1 may predict an advanced clinical stage and poor prognosis of tumor, suggesting that circPVT1 may serve as a potential prognostic marker in cancers.

Upregulation of circular and linear METTL3 and USP3 in colorectal cancer

Several screening methods are currently used to detect colorectal cancer (CRC). However, these are either under-utilized due to their invasive nature or are limited in terms of their diagnostic ability. Numerous reports have investigated messenger and circular RNA as non-invasive biomarkers, but the majority of gene expression studies using RT-qPCR involve critical errors that often lead to irreproducible findings. In the present study, several of these issues were addressed. To the best of our knowledge, this study reports for the first time the upregulation of both the circular and the linear isoform of USP3 and METTL3 in leukocytes from patients with CRC. The linear transcripts of USP3 and METTL3 exhibited 2.3- and 2-fold increases on average in CRC samples (n=42 CRC) compared with the respective healthy controls (n=32), whereas their circular isoforms showed 1.6- and 1.7-fold increases, respectively. Moreover, a strong positive correlation was observed between the circular and linear isoforms of USP3 in the CRC cohort (P<0.0001), but not in the control group (P>0.05). In addition, the linear USP3 assay had excellent sensitivity (79%), specificity (75%), positive predictive value (81%), negative predictive value (73%) and area under the curve (AUC, 0.8534; P-value <0.0001). The circular (AUC, 0.6946; P-value =0.0043) and linear (AUC, 0.7202; P-value =0.0012) METTL3 assays also showed potential; however, this was not the case for the circular USP3 assay (P-value >0.05). Taken together, this stringent RT-qPCR approach provides evidence for the viability of using circular and linear RNA molecules as disease biomarkers and may help shed light on the regulatory pathways of CRC.

The Emerging Role of Circ-SHPRH in Cancer

PURPOSE

Circ-SHPRH is a circular RNA that can regulate the expression of target genes by sponging microRNAs (miRNAs) or translating tumor suppressor proteins. Recent studies have suggested that circ-SHPRH may play a role in the development of tumors and cancers. Hence, this paper aimed to review the biological characteristics, molecular mechanisms, and potential clinical significance of circ-SHPRH in a variety of tumors and to evaluate its potential as a new diagnostic and prognostic biomarker.

METHODS

Numerous experiments were performed regarding the abnormal expression of circ-SHPRH in a variety of tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma, gastric carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, osteosarcoma, colorectal cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, retinoblastoma, and glioblastoma.

RESULTS

Upregulation of circ-SHPRH reportedly inhibits tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, leading to the inhibition of tumor development. The clinicopathological parameters and the functional characteristics of circ-SHPRH in multiple human tumors and cancers were summarized. Circ-SHPRH functions as a tumor suppressor gene and has great potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for different types of cancer.

Prognostic and Clinicopathological Significance of Circular RNA circ-ITCH Expression in Cancer Patients: A Meta-analysis

Circular RNAs are a class of RNAs with a covalently closed configuration, and several members of them have been reported to be capable of regulating various biological processes and predicting the outcome of disease. Among them, circular RNA circ-ITCH has been identified to be aberrantly expressed and associated with disease progression in diverse cancers. However, the correlation of circ-ITCH expression with clinicopathological features, as well as the prognosis of cancers, remains inconclusive. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to investigate the clinical significance of circ-ITCH in cancers by systematically summarizing all eligible literatures. Up to August 31, 2020, relevant articles were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane library, Embase, CNKI, and Wanfang databases. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. A total of 1604 patients from 14 studies were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that cancer patients with low circ-ITCH expression were more susceptible to develop lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.67-3.02, p ≤ 0.01), larger tumor size (OR = 3.01, 95% CI: 2.01-4.52, p ≤ 0.01), advanced TNM stage (OR = 2.82, 95% CI: 1.92-4.14, p ≤ 0.01), and poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 2.45, 95% CI: 2.07-2.90, p ≤ 0.01, univariate analysis; HR = 2.69, 95% CI: 1.82-3.96, p ≤ 0.01, multivariate analysis). Thus, low circ-ITCH expression was significantly associated with aggressive clinicopathological features and unfavorable outcome in various cancers. Therefore, circ-ITCH may serve as a molecular therapy target and a prognostic marker in human cancers.

Identification of breast cancer-related circRNAs by analysis of microarray and RNA-sequencing data: An observational study

BACKGROUND

An increasing number of studies indicate that circular RNAs (circRNAs) participate in tumorigenesis. The aim of this study was to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of circRNAs in breast cancer based on the construction of the circRNA-related ceRNA network.

METHODS

The expression profiles of circRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases. A ceRNA network was constructed by Cytoscape. The interactions among proteins were analyzed using the STRING database, and hub genes were extracted using the cytoHubba application. The functions of the differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs) were analyzed by the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genomes (KEGG) and the Gene Ontology (GO) database.

RESULTS

In total, 7 differentially expressed circRNAs (DEcircRNAs), 27 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs), and 102 DEmRNAs were selected for the construction of the ceRNA network of breast cancer. We established a protein-protein interaction network and identified 6 hub genes. Then, a circRNA-miRNA-hub gene regulatory module was established based on 2 DEcircRNAs, 2 DEmiRNAs, and 2 DEmRNAs. GO and KEGG pathway analyses indicated the possible association of DEmRNAs with breast cancer onset and progression.

CONCLUSIONS

The circRNA hsa_circ_0000519 is likely critical in the pathogenesis of breast cancer and may serve as a future therapeutic biomarker.