Association Between Peripheral Blood MiR-9-5p And Schizophrenia

Objective:To investigate the expression levels of miR-9-5p、miR-328-3p and miR-144-3p in peripheral blood of schizophrenia patients and evaluate its diagnostic value for schizophrenia;predict the target genes regulated by differentially expressed miRNA,and to explore their biological functions and signaling pathways,providing new ideas and theoretical basis for the study of the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.Methods:A total of 15 patients with schizophrenia and 15 healthy controls were selected for preliminary screening of differentially expressed microRNAs in peripheral blood of the two groups by using high-throughput sequencing technology;Real-time quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR)was used to further verify the differentially expressed microRNAs in schizophrenia group and control groups,and to evaluate the feasibility of microRNAs as biomarkers for schizophrenia;TargetScan7.2,DIANA-micro T and miRDB were used to predict the target genes of miR-9-5p,and perform Gene ontology(GO)function enrichment analysis of target genes set through R software to explore the biological processes,cellular components and molecular function,and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG)pathway analyzes the signaling pathways it may participate in.Results:1.Next generation sequencing results showed that miR-9-5p,miR-328-3p,and miR-144-3p were significantly different between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls(P <0.01).2.RT-qPCR verification results showed that the expression level of miR-9-5p in peripheral blood of schizophrenia patients was lower than that of controls,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05),but the expression levels of miR-328-3p and miR-144-3p were not statistically different.3.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis shows that the area under curve(AUC)of miR-9-5p is 0.623,which is of low value as an independent diagnostic marker of schizophrenia,but of certain reference value.4.GO enrichment analysis of target genes revealed that multiple target gene functions of miR-9-5p are related to the central nervous system.In the biological process,it is mainly included cell morphogenesis involved in neuron differentiation,axonogenesis,axon development,and regulation of neuron projection development;the cell components are mainly involved in neuron projection terminus,neuron to neuron synapse,synaptic membrane and other components;in molecular function,it mainly plays functions of microRNA binding and regulatory RNA binding,and participates in the process of schizophrenia by regulating gene transcription.5.The KEGG pathway analysis of target genes revealed that miR-9-5p may affect the occurrence and development of schizophrenia by targeting neurotrophin signaling pathway,axon guidance,and ErbB signaling pathway.Conclusions:miR-9-5p may be related to schizophrenia,miR-9-5p participates in multiple biological functions and signaling pathways related to schizophrenia,and may play an important role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.