Title:Altered Expression of microRNAs in Serum Extracellular Vesicles in Rats with Severe Burns during Shock Stage
Volume: 21
Issue: 8
Author(s): Mengru Dong, Yanbin Gao, Minxiong Li and Lei Yang*
Affiliation:
- Department of Burns, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515,China
Keywords:
Extracellular vesicles, miRNA, severe burns, shock stage, functional enrichment analysis, KEGG.
Abstract:
Background: The shock stage of severe burns is a critical determinant of
prognosis and the induction of systemic inflammatory response syndrome and multiple
organ failure. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) containing abundant miRNAs are known to
participate in various biological processes. Due to the lack of research on alternations of
miRNAs in severe burns, our study analyzed the miRNA profiles of EVs in severe burns
during the shock stage.
Methods: EVs were extracted from the serum of rats with severe burns (30% of total
body surface area, III°), and the expression of miRNAs in serum EVs was determined by
next-generation sequencing. Functional analysis of target genes of miRNAs that were
significantly differentially expressed (DE) was performed using GO Ontology (GO) and
Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG).
Results: Thirty-four DE miRNAs were identified at the early stage of severe burn shock
and 63 at the late stage of severe burn shock. In addition, miRNA-339-5p, miRNA-1,
miRNA-382-5p, miRNA134-5p, miRNA-133a-5p, and miRNA-365a-5p were DE
throughout the entire shock stage, based on P < 0.01 and |log2 (foldchange)| ≥ 1 criteria.
GO and KEGG analysis revealed that the target genes of DE miRNAs mainly enriched
the metabolic process, immune system processes, and signal pathways.
Conclusion: To our best knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the miRNA
expression profiles of EVs isolated from serum with severe burns during the shock
stage. There are significant differences between downregulation and upregulation. Thus,
miRNAs have the potential for novel biomarkers for the complication of severe burns.
