Whole transcriptome resequencing of the cavernous tissue of the penis of rats

Results: RNA transcriptome sequencing showed that 4,587 circRNAs, 762 miRNAs, and 21,661 mRNAs were dysregulated in the BCNC group. The top 20 differentially expressed circRNAs were further verified via RT-qPCR. The ceRNA network contained 23 circRNA-miRNA pairs and 227 miRNA-mRNA pairs, including ten circRNAs, six miRNAs, and 227 mRNAs. GO analysis suggested that these ten circRNAs could regulate various processes, such as oxidation-reduction processes, lipid metabolic processes, apoptotic processes, and proteolysis. Furthermore, KEGG analysis of mRNAs in the ceRNA network showed that they were involved in energy metabolism and communication between cells. A protein‐protein interaction network was constructed with the 227 mRNAs, and five hub genes (Ccna2, Cxcl10, Pld1, Mapk11, and Mboat2) were identified. In addition, Using circRNADb, we found 12 circRNAs with protein-coding potential, three of which were highly conserved in humans and rats. Our study revealed a potential link between circRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs in CNI-ED, suggesting that circRNAs may contribute to the occurrence of ED by regulating the cellular energy metabolism in CNI-ED.结果：RNA转录组测序显示，BCNC组中共有4587个环状RNA（circRNAs）、762个微小RNA（miRNAs）以及21661个信使RNA（mRNAs）表达失调。研究进一步通过RT-qPCR验证了排名前20的差异表达环状RNA。内源竞争RNA（competing endogenous RNA, ceRNA）网络包含23个环状RNA-微小RNA配对及227个微小RNA-信使RNA配对，涉及10个环状RNA、6个微小RNA与227个信使RNA。基因本体（Gene Ontology, GO）分析结果显示，这10个环状RNA可调控多种生物学过程，包括氧化还原过程、脂质代谢过程、细胞凋亡过程及蛋白水解过程。此外，针对该内源竞争RNA网络中信使RNA的京都基因与基因组百科全书（Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, KEGG）富集分析显示，这些信使RNA参与能量代谢与细胞间通讯过程。研究基于这227个信使RNA构建了蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用网络，并筛选出5个核心基因（Ccna2、Cxcl10、Pld1、Mapk11及Mboat2）。此外，通过环状RNA数据库（circRNADb）检索，本研究发现12个具备蛋白编码潜能的环状RNA，其中3个在人类与大鼠中高度保守。本研究揭示了CNI-ED中环状RNA、微小RNA与信使RNA之间的潜在关联，提示环状RNA或通过调控CNI-ED的细胞能量代谢过程，参与勃起功能障碍（Erectile Dysfunction, ED）的发生。