Bioinformatics analyses combined microarray identify the differentially expressed microRNAs in periventricular leukomalacia.

OBJECTIVES

With the improvement of premature infant cure rate and livability, the incidence of PVL has been one of the main reasons for premature infant nervous system sequelae. miRNAs are important in the regulation of cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis and carcinogenesis. The aim of the present study was to identify differentially expressed miRNAs between PVL and normal tissues.

METHODS

The target genes of significant miRNA were retrieved from the miRecords database. Furthermore, GO analysis and biological process interaction network was constructed using the BiNGO and Cytoscape software. Finally, KEGG analysis from DAVID was used to find meaningful signaling pathway.

RESULTS

In conclusion, this study identified 16 differentially expressed miRNAs, which may be important in the progression of PVL and miRNA 141 demonstrated the greatest quantity of target genes. In addition, Hdac4, Lamc1, Irs1 and Zeb1 are the most frequently appeared ones among proved genes. Wnt signaling pathway and Neurotrophin signaling pathway were identified to be significantly associated with PVL.

CONCLUSION

This work may bring some new hints for the pathogenesis of PVL in the future work. However, further investigation regarding the specific function is required.