ABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the molecular mechanism of pathological changes in osteoarthritis (OA) through applying bioinformatics to analyze the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network.Methods:MiRNA expression data from human serum samples were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially-expressed miRNA was identified using the linear modelling package of the Bioconductor software suite. The target differentially-expressed mRNA was predicted using version 2.0 of the miRWalk database. Version 3.7.1 of the Cytoscape software was used to construct the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network for OA. The target genes were analyzed by using gene ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. The protein-protein interaction network was constructed and the core genes in osteoarthritis pathology were screened out.Results:A total of 7 differentially-expressed miRNAs (all down-regulated) and 900 mRNAs were identified, mostly involved in the negative regulation of protein binding, DNA binding, or transcription in the cell cycle. Ten core genes were screened out: MAPK1, TP53, MAPK14, CCND1, EP300, POLR2E, POLR2F, ABL1, RAC1 and SKIV2L2.Conclusions:Multiple miRNAs, target genes and signaling pathways are involved in the development of OA. The miRNA-mRNA regulatory network identified provides new ideas for exploring the molecular mechanism of OA′s pathology and its clinical diagnosis and treatment.