Comprehensive Analysis of Aberrantly Expressed CircRNAs in the Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament

Introduction: With causing severe neurological deficits, ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) has attracted attention in mounting numbers. Increasing evidence shows that circRNAs act as a vital regulatory role in the biological process of human disease development. However, the potential mechanism of circRNAs in OPLL was not fully revealed. Methods: In this study, 3 OPLL patients and 3 controls were selected for Microarray analysis, and the expression profiles of circRNAs were established. TargetScan and Miranda's miRNA target prediction software were used to predict the circRNA-microRNA interaction. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were used to identify the biological process and key pathways. we used the STRING database to analyze and construct a Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network. Several circRNAs were randomly selected for quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) validation. Results: Microarray data profiling indicated that 489 circRNAs (234 up and 255 down) were highly differentially expressed with setting screening criteria (FC ≥ 2.0 and p-value ≤ 0.05). GO enrichment and KEGG pathways analysis revealed some processes and pathways that might influence the progress of OPLL such as osteoclast differentiation, vasopressin-regulated water reabsorption, Wnt, MAPK, VEGF signaling pathway. We have obtained some significant genes such as AKT3, ACVR1, RBPJ, NFATC1, PTK2, SLC8A1. Extended sample verification results were consistent with sequencing data. Conclusions: It is the first study for portraying circRNAs expression profiles of OPLL. This provides new ideas for the prevention and alleviation of OPLL. The specific functions and mechanisms of circRNAs in OPLL should be further verified to provide more clinical treatment options for OPLL patients.