ANALYSIS OF circRNA MEDIATED ceRNA NETWORK IN PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second leading progressive neurodegenerative disorder among elderly people. Dopaminergic neuronal loss in substantia nigra pars compacta is believed to cause the motor dysfunction in this disease. Accumulation of toxic Lewy bodies which is rich in insoluble α-Synuclein fibrils is found in several regions of the brain which could have been the reason for neuronal apoptosis. Exact cause of the neuronal loss has not been established till date. Micro RNAs and circular RNAs are the non-coding RNAs which were found having abundant expression in brain and can express aberrantly in diseased condition. They have role in neuronal differentiation, proliferation and development. Micro RNA can regulate the gene expression. Circular RNAs can act as competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) which can compete for shared micro RNA (miRNA) recognition element and can sequester miRNAs thus inhibiting miRNA from binding to the genes for expression regulation. Using in-silico analysis we have tried to identify circRNAs, which could be responsible for sponging miRNAs that are dysregulated in PD thus affecting expression of many genes. Also analysis of publicly available microarray datasets identified hub genes and hub modules that could show potential significance in the pathogenesis of PD.