Microarray analysis of circular RNA expression patterns in polarized macrophages

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are generated from diverse genomic locations and are a new player in the regulation of post-transcriptional gene expression. Recent studies have revealed that circRNAs play a crucial role in fine-tuning the level of microRNA (miRNA)-mediated regulation of gene expression by sequestering miRNAs. The interaction of circRNAs with disease-associated miRNAs suggests that circRNAs are important in the pathology of disease. However, the effects and roles of circRNAs in macrophage polarization have yet to be explored. In the present study, we performed a circRNA microarray to compare the circRNA expression profiles of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) under two distinct polarizing conditions (M1 macrophages induced by interferon-γ and LPS stimulation, and M2 macrophages induced by interleukin-4 stimulation). Our results showed that a total of 189 circRNAs were differentially expressed between M1 and M2 macrophages. Differentially expressed circRNAs with a high fold-change were selected for validation by RT-qPCR: circRNA-003780, circRNA-010056, and circRNA-010231 were upregulated and circRNA-003424, circRNA-013630, circRNA-001489 and circRNA-018127 were downregulated (fold-change >4, P<0.05) in M1 compared to M2, which was found to correlate with the microarray data. Furthermore, the most differentially expressed circRNAs within all the comparisons were annotated in detail with circRNA/miRNA interaction information using miRNA target prediction software. In conclusion, the present study provides novel insight into the role of circRNAs in macrophage differentiation and polarization.