Work

Expression profile and N6-methyadenosine modification of circular RNA analysis in MAFLD

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: To analyze the expression patterns of circRNAs in metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and the regulation of m 6 A methylation on those circRNAs. The expression profile of CircRNA in MAFLD and normal control liver tissues was analyzed by microarray. Predict the potential m 6 A sites of the differentially expression circRNAs (DECs) via the SRAMP website. The biological functions and molecular interactions of DECs were analyzed by GO and KEGG analyses. The selected DECs were verified by MeRIP-qPCR and RT-qPCR. There were 59 DECs in MAFLD liver tissues compared with normal control liver tissues. We found that m 6 A sites with high or very high confidence were present in 39 of these DECs. Four randomly selected DECs were validated by RT-qPCR, hsa-MLIP_0004, hsa-CHD2_0084 and hsa-FOXP1_0001 matched well with the microarray results. m 6 A qualification of them were conducted by MeRIP-qPCR, the m 6 A methylation levels are significantly different between the MAFLD and NC groups. In MAFLD, the dysregulated expression of circRNAs may be influenced by m 6 A modifications. This study provides preliminary evidence suggesting that m 6 A-mediated regulation of circRNAs could play a role in the progression of MAFLD, laying the foundation for exploring the epigenetic regulation of circRNAs in MAFLD and offering potential avenues for future diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Not applicable.

Source: BMC Gastroenterology

DOI: 10.1186/s12876-025-03722-4