ABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the biological functions of differentially expressed miRNAs and their target genes, and their regulatory relations in growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary adenoma.Methods:Four databases (miRDB, miRwalk, Targetscan7.2 and Starbase) were used to predict the target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs in GH-secreting pituitary adenoma, and GO, KEGG and protein-protein interaction network (PPI) analyses were performed on the target genes. Meaningful hub target genes were screened out and compared with mRNA sequencing results from the database; and then, a visual miRNA-target gene interaction network was constructed.Results:Totally, 113 up-regulated miRNAs target genes and 128 down-regulated miRNAs target genes were obtained with the protein interaction degree≥20. Further intersection was conducted to obtain 13 hub target genes; these genes were mainly involved in ubiquitin mediated proteolysis pathway. The regulatory miRNAs of the hub target genes were miR-15b, miR-365, miR-32-3p, and miR-486-5p.Conclusion:A miRNAs-hub target gene mutual regulation network closely related to GH-secreting pituitary adenoma is constructed with bioinformatics analysis tools, and some potential proteins and pathways related to the pathogenesis and pathological process of GH-secreting pituitary adenoma are discovered.