Profiling and bioinformatics analyses reveal chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells share a unique circular RNA expression pattern

Abstract

Approximately 10% of the human transcriptome is composed of circular RNAs (circRNAs). These are non-coding RNA molecules in which a covalent bond between the 3' and 5' forms a stable circular loop. Herein, we profiled the expression of 13,368 cricRNAS in 21 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Regardless of clinical, genetic, or prognostic characteristics, CLL cells share a unique expression profile distinguishable from that of normal B cells. Specifically, 859 circRNAs from 592 genes were differentially expressed (fold change ≥2 and false discovery rate ≤0.05). Whether dysregulation of circRNAs contributes to the pathogenesis of CLL remains to be determined.