Analysis of Differentially Expressed circRNAs and mRNAs and Their Correlation Network in Peripheral Blood of COVID-19 Patients

Since the global outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in 2019, numerous studies have been conducted on the characterization, infection and treatment of COVID-19 virus. In recent years, researches on circRNAs have shown that they are involved in regulating many life activities, including cell mitosis, apoptosis, and some signaling pathways. However, few studies have been concentrated on circRNAs' fuction in COVID-19 infected patients. In this study, transcriptome sequencing data of PBMC from 55 COVID-19 patients and 21 healthy donors were downloaded from online database, and integrated analysis between mRNAs and circRNAs were performed. GO and KEGG functional enrichment analysis showed that differentially expressed mRNAs and circRNAs were mainly involved in the regulation of cell cycle, apoptosis, immune regulation, multiple diseases and signaling pathways. The construction of PPI network and co-expression network indicates the relationship of mutual regulation of dys-expressed mRNAs and circRNAs. This study gives new insights into infection mechanisms of COVID-19 and regulatory functions of mRNAs and circRNAs, which may provide a novel clue in diagnostic and therapeutic methods for COVID-19 patients.