Transcriptome array screening and verification of oral leukoplakia carcinogenesis-related hypoxia-responsive gene and microRNA.

OBJECTIVES: To study the hypoxia response gene and microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in the pathogenesis and progression of oral leukoplakia (OLK). METHODS: Affymetrix GeneChip human transcriptome array 2.0 was used to detect the transcriptome of normal mucosa, low-risk OLK, high-risk OLK, and early squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Gene ontology function analysis was used to screen genes and key miRNAs whose biological role is hypoxia response. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase ch-ain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to verify the expression of hypoxia response genes and miRNAs. RESULTS: A total of 7 different genes of hypoxia response between normal mucosa and low-risk OLK, 10 genes between low-risk and high-risk OLK, and 21 genes between high-risk OLK and SCC were identified. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α, chemokine cc-motif ligand 2, and matrix metalloproteinase 3 mRNA and miR-21 in normal mucosa, OLK, and SCC increased in a stepwise manner. The expression difference between OLK and SCC was statistically significant and consistent with the results of transcriptome array. CONCLUSIONS: The hypoxia response gene and related miRNA play roles in the development and progression of OLK.

In silico analysis of the molecular mechanism of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Postmenopausal osteoporosis (PO) is a common disease in females >50 years of age worldwide and is becoming an increasing burden to society. The present study aimed to assess the molecular mechanism of PO using bioinformatic methods. The gene expression data from patients with PO and normal controls were downloaded from the ArrayExpress database provided by European Bioinformatics Institute. Following the screening of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using the Limma package in R language, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways enrichment analysis was performed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery online tools. Sequentially, modulators of the DEGs, including transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs, were predicted by the ChIP Enrichment Analysis databases and WEB­based GEne SeT AnaLysis Toolkit system, respectively. In addition, the protein­protein interaction network of DEGs was constructed via the search tool for the retrieval of interacting genes and then the functional modules were further analyzed via the clusterMaker package and The Biological Networks Gene Ontology package within the Cytoscape software. A total of 482 DEGs, including 279 upregulated and 203 downregulated DEGs, were screened out. DEGs were predominantly enriched in the pathways of fatty acid metabolism, cardiac muscle contraction and DNA replication. TFs, including SMAD4, in addition to microRNAs, including the microRNA­125 (miR­125) family, miR­331 and miR­24, may be the modulators of the DEGs in PO. In addition, the five largest modules were identified with TTN, L1G1, ACADM, UQCRC2 and TRIM63 as the hub proteins, and they were associated with the biological processes of muscle contraction, DNA replication initiation, lipid modification, generation of precursor metabolites and energy, and regulation of acetyl­CoA biosynthetic process, respectively. SMAD4, CACNG1 and TRIM63 are suggested to be important factors in the molecular mechanisms of PO, and miR­331 may be novel potential biomarker for PO.

Activation of SHH signaling pathway promotes vasculogenesis in post-myocardial ischemic-reperfusion injury.

This study aimed to investigate the potential roles of sonic Hedgehog (SHH) expression in vasculogenesis in post-myocardial ischemic-reperfusion injury (MIRI) and its underlying mechanism. Cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) isolated from the SD rat hearts tissues were used to construct the MIRI model. mRNA level of SHH in control cells and MIRI cells was detected using RT-PCR analysis. Furthermore, effects of SHH expression on CMECs viability and apoptosis were analyzed using MTT assay and Annexin-V-FITC kit respectively. Moreover, effects of SHH expression on the pathway signal proteins expression was analyzed using ELISA and western blotting. mRNA level of SHH was significantly decreased compared to the controls (P<0.05). Besides, CMECs viability was significantly increased while cell apoptosis was decreased by SHH application compared with the controls (P<0.05). Vasculogenesis-related factors including VEGF, FGF and Ang were significantly increased by SHH application, as well as the SHH signal proteins including Patch-1, Gli1, Gli2 and SMO (P<0.05). However, these effects of SHH application on biological factors levels were reversed by the SHH inhibitor application. This study suggested that SHH over expression may play a pivotal contribute role in vasculogenesis through activating the SHH signals in post-MIRI.