Identification and functional analysis of a potential key circRNA in aged mice with perioperative neurocognitive dysfunction. Identification and functional analysis of a potential key circRNA in aged mice with perioperative neurocognitive dysfunction

Perioperative neurocognitive dysfunction (PND) is emerging as a significant complication of surgery in elderly patients. However, the molecular mechanisms of PND are not well known. Here we applied microarray analysis to identify circular RNAs (circRNAs) in hippocampus from a mouse model of PND and control mice. Then, the dysregulated circRNAs were confirmed via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Then, Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed to probe the vital functions of dysregulated genes. Overall design: We randomly selected 6 C57 male mice (age 18 months) and divided them into two groups: control group (n=3) and surgery group (n=3). The surgical procedures of intramedullary fixation for open tibial fracture were performed to simulate a mouse model of POCD. The hippocampal tissues of the surgery and control group mice were harvested on day 3 after the surgery for RNA extraction and hybridization. The RNA labeling and array hybridization were performed by KangChen Bio-tech, Shanghai, PR China.