Integrated analysis of transcriptome profiling predicts potential lncRNA and circRNA targets in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) regulate numerous genes and influence the progression of various human diseases, including cancer. The role of regulatory ncRNAs implicated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), as well as their target genes, remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate specific long non-coding (lnc)RNAs, circular RNAs (circRNAs) and mRNAs associated with the molecular pathogenesis of NPC, and to predict the underlying target genes of specific lncRNAs and circRNAs. The expression levels of lncRNAs, circRNAs and mRNAs in NPC and chronic nasopharyngitis tissues were detected and analyzed using microarray and bioinformatics techniques. A total of 2.80% lncRNAs (425 upregulated and 431 downregulated) were significantly differentially expressed (DE) between the two tissue types. Additionally, 0.96% circRNAs (18 upregulated and 13 downregulated) were significantly DE, while 2.94% mRNAs (426 upregulated and 341 downregulated) were significantly DE between the two tissue types. In total, 420 NPC-associated nearby encoding genes (196 up- and 224 downregulated) of the DE lncRNAs were identified. Overlap analysis identified 23 DE circRNAs and their corresponding target genes, with 37 microRNAs and 50 mRNAs, from which 14 interaction networks were constructed. Subsequent pathway analysis revealed 221 DE target genes corresponding to 31 key signaling pathways associated with NPC, 14 of which may represent hub genes associated with NPC pathophysiology. Thus, certain lncRNAs, circRNAs and mRNAs are aberrantly expressed in NPC tissues, and partially specific lncRNAs, circRNAs and their target genes may influence the tumorigenesis and progression of NPC. Target prediction and regulatory network identification may help to determine the pathogenic mechanisms of NPC.