Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) has emerged as vital regulator involved in various diseases. In this study, we identified and investigated the potential circRNAs involved in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
Methods: High-throughput sequencing was used to collect the plasma circRNAs expression profiles of GDM patients. Quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the expressions of circ_0008285 and circ_0001173 in the plasma specimens. The Pearson's correlation test was employed to assess the correlation between 2 circRNAs expression and the clinicopathologic data. Two circRNAs expression was verified in high glucose (HG)-induced HTR-8/SVneo cells. MTS, transwell assay was used to evaluate the effects of circ_0008285 expression on HG-induced HTR-8/SVneo cells. The network of circ_0008285 was constructed using cytocape.
Results: In GDM patients, the expression of circ_0008285 was significantly upregulated, while that of circ_0001173 was decreased. Circ_0008285 was significantly correlated with the total cholesterol and LDL-C levels. Circ_0001173 was significantly correlated with glycated hemoglobin. HG promoted the proliferation, invasion, and migration in HTR-8/SVneo cells, while the knockdown of circ_0008285 exerted reverse effects. In addition, network construction exhibited that circ_0008285 had 45 miRNA binding sites, which correlated with 444 mRNA.
Conclusions: circ_0008285 plays an important role and provides a clue for the usage of therapeutic targets in the development of GDM.
Keywords: Circular RNA; Functional analysis; Gestational diabetes mellitus; circ_0008285.