Downregulation of circBIRC6 and circCORO1C during differentiation of human cord blood-derived CD34+ cells

Background: Umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells (UCB HSCs) transplantation has attracted the attention of many researchers due to the low probability of GVHD and HLA mismatching; however, the use of this resource for adults has been limited due to the inadequate number of CD34+ HSC from any individual donor. Recent reports indicate that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are involved in stem cell properties.Methods: In this study, the expression of several candidate circRNAs, including circCORO1C and circBIRC6 in CD34+ HSCs was investigated by using quantitative RT-PCR.Results: The results showed that the expression levels of circBIRC6 and circCORO1C and simultaneously, the expression of transcription factors such as NANOG and SOX2 were significantly downregulated during differentiation.Conclusion: Taken together, these findings suggested that expression of circBIRC6 and circCORO1C were downregulated during differentiation of CD34+ HSCs.