Eight Differential miRNAs in DN Identified by Microarray Analysis as Novel Biomarkers

Abstract

Background

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the common cause of renal diseases such as end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Various diagnostic applications and treatment methods are used for clinical but remain some prognosis issues. To avoid morbidity and mortality related to DN, early detection of disease complications as well as targeted therapeutic strategies is essential. Considerable evidence indicates that non-coding RNA plays a vital role in the biological processes of various diseases, used as biomarkers and therapeutic targets. And the most known ncRNAs are the microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs).

Materials and Methods

Our study aimed to identify potential prognostic ncRNAs involved in DN by bioinformatics analysis and validated expression levels through quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and GEO database. Our research focuses on differential expression miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) in DN and their interactions with critical genes.

Results

We identified 8 up-regulated DEmiRNAs, including miR-103a-2-5p, miR-297, miR-548x-3p, miR-604, miR-644a, miR-1256, miR-3911 and miR-5047 finally. We further validated these miRNAs in a murine model.

Conclusion

Identifying these up-regulated genes and elucidating these miRNAs regulatory network will contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of DN and how they can be used as new biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for DN.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• diabetic nephropathy
• microRNAs
• bioinformatics
• biomarkers

Data Sharing Statement

The data used to support the findings of this research are available from Gene Expression Omnibus database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/);

miRBase database (http://www.mirbase.org/index.shtml);

miRDB database (http://mirdb.org/);

miRNAWalk database (http://mirwalk.umm.uni-heidelberg.de/);

TargetScan database (http://www.targetscan.org/mamm_31/);

RNA22 database (https://cm.jefferson.edu/rna22/Interactive/);

miRanda database (http://www.miranda.org/).

Ethics Statement

The Ethics Committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University approved this animal study. All animal experiments were conducted following the standard for laboratory animals of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.