Conserved Transcriptional Signatures in Human and Murine Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

Sci Rep. 2018 Dec 5;8(1):17678. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36098-5.

Abstract

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the most common complications of diabetes. In this study, we employed a systems biology approach to identify DPN-related transcriptional pathways conserved across human and various murine models. Eight microarray datasets on peripheral nerve samples from murine models of type 1 (streptozotocin-treated) and type 2 (db/db and ob/ob) diabetes of various ages and human subjects with non-progressive and progressive DPN were collected. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between non-diabetic and diabetic samples in murine models, and non-progressive and progressive human samples using a unified analysis pipeline. A transcriptional network for each DEG set was constructed based on literature-derived gene-gene interaction information. Seven pairwise human-vs-murine comparisons using a network-comparison program resulted in shared sub-networks including 46 to 396 genes, which were further merged into a single network of 688 genes. Pathway and centrality analyses revealed highly connected genes and pathways including LXR/RXR activation, adipogenesis, glucocorticoid receptor signalling, and multiple cytokine and chemokine pathways. Our systems biology approach identified highly conserved pathways across human and murine models that are likely to play a role in DPN pathogenesis and provide new possible mechanism-based targets for DPN therapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / complications
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / genetics*
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / complications
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / genetics*
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / complications
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / genetics*
  • Diabetic Neuropathies / complications
  • Diabetic Neuropathies / genetics*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Gene Expression Profiling*
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gene Regulatory Networks*
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Systems Biology