Combination of circular RNA-miRNA-mRNA expression profiles and bioinformatic analysis in ovarian endometriosis

Endometriosis is a mysterious disease that affects 5 %-10 % of the women of reproductive age. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a type of noncoding RNA, are involved in its progression, yet their regulatory mechanisms via integrated circRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks remain poorly studied. We profiled circRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs expression in paired eutopic and ectopic endometrium from patients with ovarian endometriosis. Differential expression analysis revealed 325 circRNAs, 295 miRNAs, and 4605 mRNAs. Using bioinformatic predictions and negative correlation analysis, we constructed a ceRNA network comprising 134 circRNAs, 72 miRNAs, and 107 mRNAs. Moreover, we identified hsa_circ_0005918/miR-504-5p/PDLIM2 and hsa_circ_0005918/miR-105-5p/OBSL1 as crucial regulatory axes in endometriosis. Functional experiments confirmed that hsa_circ_0005918 promotes cells migration and invasion by sponging miR-504-5p and miR-105-5p, upregulating PDLIM2 and OBSL1, which may consequently contribute to the progression of endometriotic lesions. Our constructed network presents robust credibility, facilitating the exploration of complex mechanisms of circRNAs in endometriosis.