特发性矮身材儿童循环microRNA表达水平的研究

目的 研究特发性矮身材（ISS）患儿循环miRNA表达水平，初步建立ISS循环miRNA表达谱，为进一步探索miRNA与ISS发生、发展及寻找新的生物标记物提供理论依据。方法 选取20例ISS患儿和20例健康对照儿童，提取血清总RNA，利用microRNA microarray技术比较ISS患儿与对照儿童血清miRNA的表达差异；实时荧光定量PCR技术验证芯片结果，生物信息学分析软件对筛选出的具有显著差异表达的miRNA进行靶基因预测。结果 ISS组与对照组对比共有40个差异表达的miRNA，其中表达上调的miRNA有24个；表达下调的有16个；实时荧光定量 PCR对其中2个表达上调（miR-185和miR-574-5p）和2个表达下调（miR-497和miR-15a）的miRNA进行验证，ISS患儿血清中miR-185较对照组明显上调（P<0.05），miR-497明显下调（P<0.05）。结论 ISS患儿与健康对照血清miRNA表达存在显著差异，提示血清miRNA可能与ISS的发生发展有密切的关系。

Circulating microRNA expression in children with idiopathic short stature

Objective To study the role of circulating microRNAs (miRNA) in the pathogenesis of idiopathic short stature (ISS) through detecting miRNA expression profile in plasma of children with ISS. Methods Plasma miRNA expression was determined by microarray in 20 children with ISS and 20 healthy children. Altered microRNAs were verified by real-time PCR. The online miRNA target gene prediction software was used to predict and screen miRNA differentially expressed target genes. Results According to the microarray, there were 40 differentially expressed miRNAs in the ISS group compared with the control group, including 24 up-regulated miRNAs and 16 down-regulated miRNAs. Real-time PCR verified two up-regulated (miR-185 and miR-574-5p) and two down-regulated miRNAs (miR-497 and miR-15a) and confirmed that plasma miR-185 expresson was significantly up-regulated (P<0.05) and miR-497 expression was significantly down-regulated (P<0.05) in children with ISS. Conclusions Plasma miRNA expression levels in children with ISS are significantly different from healthy controls, suggesting that plasma miRNA is associated with the pathogenesis of ISS.