Differential expression of circRNAs discriminates between different maturational stages of human intrathymic thymocytes.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are stable single stranded RNA molecules which form a covalently closed continuous loop. They are involved in multiple biological processes, functioning mainly through interactions with microRNAs and proteins or by the expression of specific peptides. Preliminary data exist on circRNA expression in different peripheral blood cell populations. Deregulation of circRNAs has been shown to be key in the development of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). However, a detailed analysis on circRNAs expression in intrathymic thymocyte populations was still missing and might be key to understanding thymus development as well as tumours arising in the lymphoblastic line. The aim of this study was to investigate whether circRNAs are differentially expressed in thymocytes at different maturational stages during the intrathymic differentiation process. Overall design: Differential circRNA expression analysis in thymocytes at different stages of intrathymic differentiation