Identification and analysis of circRNA–miRNA–mRNA regulatory network in hepatocellular carcinoma

This study was to identify important circRNA–miRNA–mRNA (ceRNAs) regulatory mechanisms in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The circRNA dataset GSE97332 and miRNA dataset GSE57555 were used for analyses. Functional enrichment analysis for miRNA and target gene was conducted using cluster Profiler. Survival analysis was conducted through R package Survival. The ceRNAs and drug–gene interaction networks were constructed. The ceRNAs network contained five miRNAs including hsa-miR-25-3p, hsa-miR-3692-5p, hsa-miR-4270, hsa-miR-331-3p, and hsa-miR-125a-3p. Among the network, hsa-miR-25-3p targeted the most genes, hsa-miR-3692-5p and hsa-miR-4270 were targeted by more circRNAs than other miRNAs, hsa-circ-0034326 and hsa-circ-0011950 interacted with three miRNAs. Furthermore, target genes, including NRAS, ITGA5, SLC7A1, SEC14L2, SLC12A5, and SMAD2 were obtained in drug–gene interaction network. Survival analysis showed NRAS, ITGA5, SLC7A1, SEC14L2, SLC12A5, and SMAD2 were significantly associated with prognosis of HCC. NRAS, ITGA5, and SMAD2 were significantly enriched in proteoglycans in cancer. Moreover, hsa-circ-0034326 and hsa-circ-0011950 might function as ceRNAs to play key roles in HCC. Furthermore, miR-25-3p, miR-3692-5p, and miR-4270 might be significant for HCC development. NRAS, ITGA5, SEC14L2, SLC12A5, and SMAD2 might be prognostic factors for HCC patients via proteoglycans in cancer pathway. Taken together, the findings will provide novel insight into pathogenesis, selection of therapeutic targets and prognostic factors for HCC.