Integrated mRNA and Extrachromosomal Circular DNA Profiling Reveals Novel Biomarkers for Liver Fibrosis
Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) is a promising biomarker for disease diagnosis and prognosis. Its crucial role in liver fibrosis remains unclear. This study aims to characterize eccDNAs in hepatitis B virus-related liver fibrosis and identify potential diagnostic biomarkers. We conducted Circle-Seq and whole-transcriptome sequencing on serum samples from patients with liver fibrosis and healthy controls, followed by integrated analysis. The verification results revealed that eccDNA-chr12:120232112-120232244, eccDNA-chr12:115607016-124806916, and mRNA-paxillin were significantly upregulated in liver fibrosis. Moreover, three candidate biomarkers demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy, with area under curve values of 0.82, 0.807, and 0.820, respectively. We offer a comprehensive characterization of eccDNAs in human liver fibrosis and have identified that mRNA-paxillin-containing eccDNAs are potential biomarkers in liver fibrosis.