Altered Expression Profile of Circular RNAs in Conjunctival Melanoma

Abstract

Aim: We aimed to explore the roles of circular RNA (circRNA) in conjunctival melanoma. Materials & methods: The altered circRNAs were identified by RNA sequencing. The function of one circRNA, circMTUS1, was explored by several experiments in conjunctival melanoma. Bioinformatic analyses and an RNA immunoprecipitation assay were performed to further study the downstream mechanism of circMTUS1. Results: We identified 9300 different circRNAs in conjunctival melanoma tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. CircMTUS1 was upregulated in conjunctival melanoma. Silencing of circMTUS1 inhibited conjunctival melanoma proliferation in vitro and in vivo. CircMTUS1 may serve as an oncogene by binding to hsa-miR-622 and hsa-miR-1208 to regulate several tumor-related pathways. Conclusion: We demonstrated that circMTUS1 may serve as an oncogene to promote tumor proliferation.

Keywords::

• bioinformatics
• circMTUS1
• circular RNA
• conjunctival melanoma

Author contributions

Q Shang collected the related literature and drafted the manuscript. Q Shang, Y Li and H Wang collected tissue samples and performed the experiments. R Jia and S Ge participated in the design of the experiments, performed the data analysis and drafted the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Consent for publication

All authors have agreed on the contents of the manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81772875, 81570884, 81770961), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai (17DZ2260100), the Innovation Fund for Translational Medicine (15ZH1005) and the ShuGuang Project of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai Education Development Foundation (14SG18). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical disclosure

The authors state that the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved. The protocol of the tumor-bearing experiment was reviewed and approved by Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital Central Lab IACUC (Permit Number: SYXK [Shanghai] 2016–0016).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81772875, 81570884, 81770961), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai (17DZ2260100), the Innovation Fund for Translational Medicine (15ZH1005) and the ShuGuang Project of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai Education Development Foundation (14SG18). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.