AUTHOR=Zhang Jiaqi , Liang Ning , Cao Yan , Li Min TITLE=Differentially Expressed Circular RNAs and Their Therapeutic Mechanism in Non-segmental Vitiligo Patients Treated With Methylprednisolone JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine VOLUME=9 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2022.839066 DOI=10.3389/fmed.2022.839066 ISSN=2296-858X ABSTRACT=

Vitiligo is characterized by chronic skin depigmentation arising from the autoimmune destruction of epidermal melanocytes. Systemic corticosteroid therapy is an effective immunosuppressive treatment for progressive generalized vitiligo. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play various roles in diseases. In systemic corticosteroid therapy, however, how circRNAs function to counter vitiligo is still unclear. In this article, we identified the differentially expressed circRNAs (DEcircRNAs) in vitiligo patients before and after the administration of methylprednisolone. Total RNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of patients with vitiligo, and samples were hybridized into a circRNA array. A total of 375 (51 upregulated and 324 downregulated) circRNAs were differentially expressed. Box, scatter, volcano, and heatmap plots were generated to classify the samples. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed on DEcircRNAs. These DEcircRNAs were enriched in vitiligo-related biological processes, such as ferroptosis, organic substance transport, protein metabolic process, and cellular component organization or biogenesis. Two different databases, TargetScan and miRanda, were used to predict circRNA/miRNA interactions. Several circRNA/miRNA interactions were involved in ferroptosis. These circRNAs might serve as therapeutic targets in the treatment of vitiligo.