title: Altered microRNA expression profiles in a rat model of spina bifida.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are dynamically regulated during neurodevelopment, yet few reports have examined their role in spina bifida. In this study, we used an established fetal rat model of spina bifida induced by intragastrically administering olive oil-containing all-trans retinoic acid to dams on day 10 of pregnancy. Dams that received intragastric administration of all-trans retinoic acid-free olive oil served as controls. The miRNA expression profile in the amniotic fluid of rats at 20 days of pregnancy was analyzed using an miRNA microarray assay. Compared with that in control fetuses, the expression of miRNA-9, miRNA-124a, and miRNA-138 was significantly decreased (> 2-fold), whereas the expression of miRNA-134 was significantly increased (> 4-fold) in the amniotic fluid of rats with fetuses modeling spina bifida. These results were validated using real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Hierarchical clustering analysis of the microarray data showed that these differentially expressed miRNAs could distinguish fetuses modeling spina bifida from control fetuses. Our bioinformatics analysis suggested that these differentially expressed miRNAs were associated with many cytological pathways, including a nervous system development signaling pathway. These findings indicate that further studies are warranted examining the role of miRNAs through their regulation of a variety of cell functional pathways in the pathogenesis of spina bifida. Such studies may provide novel targets for the early diagnosis and treatment of spina bifida.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Pan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Zhengzhou Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Da
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Qiu-Liang
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xin-Rang
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: He-Ying
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Zhong
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Jia-Xiang
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5695-9198
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: MAPK; all-trans retinoic acid; amniotic fluid; microRNA; microarray; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction; spina bifida