Differential expression and functional prediction of circular RNAs and mRNAs in Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma (NB) is one of the most common extracranial solid tumors in children. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been shown to act as vital tumor biomarkers and growth regulators in various types of cancers, making them promising therapeutic candidates for cancer therapy. Here, we aimed to screen circRNA expression in NB. We performed next generation sequencing (NGS) on three paired samples. The mechanism of interaction of differentially expressed (DE)-circRNAs to miRNAs was determined via CircBase database and starBase. Also, data from GO, KEGG, and Reactome enrichment analysis were used to create a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA pathway to determine the physiological role of circRNAs, followed by verification using qRT-PCR. Additionally, the STRING database was employed for creating the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Here, 154 DE-circRNAs were identified in the three paired samples, of which 63 were upregulated and 91 were downregulated. We also found that 2190 and 2282 mRNAs were upregulated and downregulated, respectively, in the NB group compared with the control group. We determined DE-circRNAs and mRNAs levels in NB patients to explore the etiology of NB to facilitate their use as noninvasive diagnostic biomarkers.