Investigation of Gene Regulatory Networks Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder Based on MiRNA Expression in China

• Published in: PloS one 2015-06, Vol.10 (6), p.e0129052-e0129052
• Main Authors: Huang, Fengzhen, Long, Zhe, Chen, Zhao, Li, Jiada, Hu, Zhengmao, Qiu, Rong, Zhuang, Wei, Tang, Beisha, Xia, Kun, Jiang, Hong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Analysis; Asian Continental Ancestry Group - genetics; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - blood; Autism Spectrum Disorder - genetics; Brain; Brain research; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Child; Child, Preschool; China; DNA microarrays; Encyclopedias; Epigenesis, Genetic; Epigenetic inheritance; Female; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling - methods; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genetic Association Studies; Genetics; Genomes; Genomics; Growth factors; Hospitals; Humans; Investigations; Laboratories; Male; Metabolism; MicroRNA; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - blood; MicroRNAs - genetics; miRNA; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Neurology; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis - methods; Patients; Peripheral blood; Polymerase chain reaction; Proteolysis; Psychiatry; Reverse transcription; Studies; Thoracic surgery; Ubiquitin; Ubiquitin - metabolism
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0129052

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comprise a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social and communication capacities and repetitive behaviors. Increasing neuroscientific evidence indicates that the neuropathology of ASD is widespread and involves epigenetic regulation in the brain. Differentially expressed miRNAs in the peripheral blood from autism patients were identified by high-throughput miRNA microarray analyses. Five of these miRNAs were confirmed through quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis. A search for candidate target genes of the five confirmed miRNAs was performed through a Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) biological pathways and Gene Ontology enrichment analysis of gene function to identify gene regulatory networks. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first global miRNA expression profile of ASD in China. The differentially expressed miR-34b may potentially explain the higher percentage of male ASD patients, and the aberrantly expressed miR-103a-3p may contribute to the abnormal ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis observed in ASD.