Analysis of Exosomal lncRNA, miRNA and mRNA Expression Profiles and ceRNA Network Construction in Endometriosis

Abstract

Aim: To investigate exosomal RNAs (long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs)) profiling and their related networks in endometriosis (EMs). Materials & methods: RNA sequence was performed in exosomes from ovarian endometriomas (EC), eutopic endometria (EU) and normal endometria (Control) stromal cells. The bioinformatics algorithms evaluated competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks. The top-ranked ceRNA networks were confirmed by RT-PCR. Results: Overlapped differentially expressed 938 lncRNAs, 39 miRNAs and 1449 mRNAs were identified. 13 co-expression modules and 61 ceRNA networks were constructed. Conclusion: This study for the first time shows exosomal RNA biomarkers and lncRNA-related networks in EMs, which reveals a novel molecular mechanism of EMs and provides new resources for EM diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords::

• biomarker
• endometriosis
• exosome
• lncRNA
• WGCNA

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the patients and staff of Second Xiangya Hospital and Central South University and are also thankful to Di Wu in genomics core of Cedar-Sinai Medical Center for helpful discussions of the manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 81671437, 81771558, 81702924]. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 81671437, 81771558, 81702924]. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.