Circulating circRNA signature in pregnancies with gestational diabetes mellitus. Circulating circRNA signature in pregnancies with gestational diabetes mellitus

Circular RNA can regulate blood glucose levels by targeting mRNA expression, but the role of circRNA in GDM is still unknown. Therefore, a joint microarray analysis of circRNAs and their targeting mRNAs using the peripheral blood of GDM patients and healthy pregnant women was carried out for the first time. In our study, high-throughput microarray sequencing technique was used to analyze the expression profile of circRNA and transcripts mRNA in the peripheral blood of GDM patients, in order to comprehensively evaluate the role of circRNAs targets and their parents genes in the signal pathways related to the pathogenesis of GDM. Some of the discovered circRNAs and their linear transcript mRNAs related to T cell receptor signaling pathway were further verified in larger samples by droplet digital PCR(ddPCR) and quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR), respectively. The verification results confirmed the initial microarray results. Overall design: CircRNA transcriptional spectrums of peripheral blood mononuclear cells between the GDM patients and the healthy controls were obtained through gene microarray technology.

环形RNA（Circular RNA，circRNA）可通过靶向信使RNA（messenger RNA，mRNA）的表达调控血糖水平，但目前circRNA在妊娠期糖尿病（Gestational Diabetes Mellitus，GDM）中的作用仍不明晰。为此，本研究首次以GDM患者与健康妊娠女性的外周血为样本，开展circRNA及其靶向mRNA的联合微阵列分析。本研究采用高通量微阵列测序技术，对GDM患者外周血中的circRNA及转录mRNA的表达谱进行分析，以全面评估circRNA靶向分子及其亲本基因在GDM发病相关信号通路中的作用。本研究筛选出部分与T细胞受体信号通路相关的circRNA及其线性转录本mRNA，分别通过微滴数字PCR（droplet digital PCR，ddPCR）与实时定量聚合酶链反应（quantitative real-time PCR，qRT-PCR）在更大样本量中进行验证。验证结果证实了初始微阵列分析的结果。整体实验设计：通过基因微阵列技术获取GDM患者与健康对照者外周血单个核细胞的circRNA转录谱。