Small RNA-sequencing identified the potential roles of neuron differentiation and MAPK signaling pathway in dilated cardiomyopathy.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a severe disease characterized by ventricular enlargement and subsequent cardiac dysfunction. MiRNAs plays multiple roles in cardiovascular disease. However, diagnosis values and therapeutic effects of miRNAs in dilated cardiomyopathy are yet poorly understood. In the present study, small RNA-sequencing was employed to identify dysregulated circulating miRNAs in DCM patients compared with healthy controls. A total of 48 dysregulated miRNAs were detected, and 7198 mRNAs, the intersection of predicted mRNAs from both Miranda database and RNAhybrid database, were identified as the target mRNAs of these dysregulated miRNAs. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to identify the potential effects of these dysregulated miRNAs in dilated cardiomyopathy. GO analysis and GO-Tree analysis disclosed that neuron differentiation was potentially the core biological process associated with dilated cardiomyopathy. KEGG analysis and Pathway-Act network showed that mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway was the hub pathway in dilated cardiomyopathy. The dysregulated miRNAs and related target mRNAs in neuron differentiation process and MAPK signaling pathway were also presented in the study. In conclusion, forty-eight dysregulated miRNAs were identified by small RNA-sequencing. Bioinformatics analysis suggested these miRNAs might be involved in the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy via regulating neuron differentiation process and MAPK signaling pathway.