Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35039944›Full record

ArticleCellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS2022

Competing endogenous RNA network mediated by circ_3205 in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells.

Davide Barbagallo, Concetta Ilenia Palermo, Cristina Barbagallo, Rosalia Battaglia, Angela Caponnetto, Vittoria Spina, Marco Ragusa, Cinzia Di Pietro, Guido Scalia, Michele Purrello

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Review
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  4. Article
  5. Roles and Applications of Circular RNA in Virus Infection.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Circular RNAs in Immune-Related Diseases.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2025
    Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Davide BarbagalloDepartment of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Biology and Genetics Giovanni Sichel, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy. dbarbaga@unict.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5331-4554
Concetta Ilenia PalermoU.O.C. Laboratory Analysis Unit, A.O.U. Policlinico‑Vittorio Emanuele, 95123, Catania, Italy.
Cristina BarbagalloDepartment of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Biology and Genetics Giovanni Sichel, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy.
Rosalia BattagliaDepartment of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Biology and Genetics Giovanni Sichel, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy.
Angela CaponnettoDepartment of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Biology and Genetics Giovanni Sichel, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy.
Vittoria SpinaDepartment of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Medical Biochemistry, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy.
Marco RagusaDepartment of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Biology and Genetics Giovanni Sichel, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy.
Cinzia Di Pietro *Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Biology and Genetics Giovanni Sichel, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy.
Guido Scalia *Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Microbiology, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy.
Michele Purrello *Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Biology and Genetics Giovanni Sichel, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy.
University of Catania · ITAzienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Policlinico - Vittorio Emanuele · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new member of the Betacoronaviridae family, responsible for the recent pandemic outbreak of COVID-19. To start exploring the molecular events that follow host cell infection, we queried VirusCircBase and identified a circular RNA (circRNA) predicted to be synthesized by SARS-CoV-2, circ_3205, which we used to probe: (i) a training cohort comprised of two pools of cells from three nasopharyngeal swabs of SARS-CoV-2 infected (positive) or uninfected (negative, UCs) individuals; (ii) a validation cohort made up of 12 positive and 3 negative samples. The expression of circRNAs, miRNAs and miRNA targets was assayed through real-time PCR. CircRNA-miRNA interactions were predicted by TarpMiR, Analysis of Common Targets for circular RNAs (ACT), and STarMir tools. Enrichment of the biological processes and the list of predicted miRNA targets were retrieved from DIANA miRPath v3.0. Our results showed that the predicted SARS-CoV-2 circ_3205 was expressed only in positive samples and its amount positively correlated with that of SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) mRNA and the viral load (r values = 0.80952 and 0.84867, Spearman's correlation test, respectively). Human (hsa) miR-298 was predicted to interact with circ_3205 by all three predictive tools. KCNMB4 and PRKCE were predicted as hsa-miR-298 targets. Interestingly, the function of both is correlated with blood coagulation and immune response. KCNMB4 and PRKCE mRNAs were upregulated in positive samples as compared to UCs (6 and 8.1-fold, p values = 0.049 and 0.02, Student's t test, respectively) and their expression positively correlated with that of circ_3205 (r values = 0.6 and 0.25, Spearman's correlation test, respectively). We propose that our results convincingly suggest that circ_3205 is a circRNA synthesized by SARS-CoV-2 upon host cell infection and that it may behave as a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA), sponging hsa-miR-298 and contributing to the upregulation of KCNMB4 and PRKCE mRNAs.

Indexed as

RNA, ViralComputational BiologyCOVID-19Gene Expression Regulation, ViralGene Regulatory NetworksHumansLarge-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channel beta SubunitsMicroRNAsNasopharynxNerve Tissue ProteinsProtein Interaction MappingProtein Kinase C-epsilonReproducibility of ResultsRNA, CircularSARS-CoV-2KCNMB4 protein, humanLarge-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channel beta SubunitsMicroRNAsMIRN298 microRNA, humanNerve Tissue ProteinsPRKCE protein, humanProtein Kinase C-epsilonRNA, CircularRNA, ViralcircRNACoronavirus disease 2019Gene expression regulatory networkmicroRNAmiRNA sponge

Identifiers

PMID35039944
PMCPMC8763136
OpenAlexW4206341283

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.