Differential microRNA analysis of crude drugs and processed products in Lycopodiastrum casuarinoides by using high-throughput sequencing technologies / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: To detect the differential expression profile of miRNAs (microRNAs) in crude drugs and processed products of Lycopodiastrum casuarinoides and identify potential bioactive herbal-derived miRNAs. Methods: The samples of the whole aerial tissues (including stems, leaves, branches) were collected in Yichun area of Jiangxi Province and were authenticated by relevant experts. General RNA was extracted from the crude drugs and processed products of L. casuarinoides, respectively. High-qualified small RNAs (sRNA) were isolated to be constructed the sRNA sequencing library. Then, the single-ended sequencing was conducted by using Illumina HiSeqTM 2500 sequencing method. MiRNA characteristic of L. casuarinoides was analyzed by relevant bioinformatics. Results: 9 898 332 and 10 099 918 clean reads were obtained from crude drugs group and processed products group, respectively. A total of 25 microRNAs were differentially expressed between crude drugs group and processed products groups with statistical significance, among which 22 were up regulated and three were down-regulated in processed products group compared to those in the crude drugs group. GO (gene ontology) analysis showed that their homo sapiens targets were enriched in catalytic binding, molecular transducer and KEGG (Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes) analysis was shown for the target genes enriched in cancer and immunity-related pathways, such as pathways in cancer, proteoglycans in cancer. Conclusion: The differential expression profile of microRNAs is first revealed by two processing forms of L. casuarinoides. This study suggests that the crude drugs and processed products miRNAs identified in this study will lay a foundation for exploring the pharmaceutical function of miRNAs in L. casuarinoides.