Integrated analysis of microRNA expression in tears of Kazakh patients with climatic droplet keratopathy in Xinjiang, China

Zhixiang Hua; Xiaoyan Han; Guoqing Li; Li Lv; Nuerguli Jianimuhan; Dongmei Ma; Lei Cai; Fangyuan Hu; Jin Yang

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20214

Integrated analysis of microRNA expression in tears of Kazakh patients with climatic droplet keratopathy in Xinjiang, China

Heliyon. 2023 Sep 15;9(10):e20214. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20214. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Zhixiang Hua^{1

2

3}, Xiaoyan Han^{1

2

3}, Guoqing Li⁴, Li Lv⁵, Nuerguli Jianimuhan⁵, Dongmei Ma^{1

2

3}, Lei Cai^{1

2

3}, Fangyuan Hu^{1

2

3}, Jin Yang^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology and the Eye Institute, Eye and Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
² Key NHC Key Laboratory of Myopia (Fudan University), Laboratory of Myopia, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
³ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Visual Impairment and Restoration, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Ninth Division Hospital of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Xinjiang, China.
⁵ Emin County People's Hospital, Xinjiang, China.

Abstract

Climatic droplet keratopathy (CDK) is a corneal diseases, which is characterized by increased oil-like deposits on the anterior elastic lamina and anterior stromal layer. Severe CDK can even cause blindness, with no specific available treatment. Besides. CDK is poorly understood in terms of its pathogenic mechanisms. Thus, to determine potential biomarkers for CDK, we analyzed the microRNA expression profile in tear samples from CDK patients and investigated their putative roles in the pathogenesis of CDK. Herein, miRNA sequencing and following bioinformatics analysis was performed to explore the roles of their target genes in CDK. A total of 67 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified, of which 25 were upregulated and 42 were downregulated. qPCR verification showed that among the up- and down-regulated miRNAs, expression of five and six, respectively, was most significantly different.The target genes of the differentially expressed miRNAs are involved in the FoxO signaling pathway, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway, and steroid hormone biosynthesis. Protein-protein interaction network analyses identified 20 hub genes, including PTEN, GSK3B, and SMAD3. In conclusion, the panel of differentially expressed miRNAs identified may have potential utility as early diagnostic biomarkers for CDK. Moreover, the TNF signaling pathway is a new potential target in CDK for the development of treatments.

Keywords: Biomarker; Climatic droplet keratopathy; Diagnosis; Tear; Tumor necrosis factor; microRNA.