Global identification of circRNAs in chronic myeloid leukemia reveals a circRNA signature associated with the disease progression

The circRNAs of chronic myelelogenous leukemia (CML) accelerated phase and chronic phase (CP) were more obvious than normal subjects. QRT-PCR verified that the expressions of hsa_circ_0001523, hsa_circ_0006010 and hsa_circ_0066971 were significantly up-regulated, while the expressions of hsa_circ_000095, hsa_circ_0001801 and HSA_circ_0002903 were down-regulated in advanced patients. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that some dysregulated crRnas may be active in important biological pathways by acting as miRNA sponges during CML disease progression. These six circrnas have high diagnostic value. Our study confirms significant circrNA dysregulation in CML patients and describes a circrNA marker associated with CML disease progression. Overall design: CircRNAs expression profiles were analyzed by high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Candidate circRNAs were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Bioinformatics analysis predicted the potential functions of these circRNAs. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, Spearman's rho correlation test and Chi-square test were used.