Aberrant expression of microRNA in peripheral blood of non-specific mental retardation patients

Abstract

Objective To explore the differentially expressed miRNAs in peripheral blood from the patients with non-specific mental retardation. Methods The miRNAs expression profilings in peripheral blood of 3 pairs in non-specific mental retardation patients and normal control were analyzed using microRNA array. 10 miRNAs were selected according to the microRNA array results.The expression of these miRNAs were detected by quantitative RT-PCR in 34 non-specific mental retardation patients and 32 healthy individuals. Results There were 27 kinds of microRNA which had statistically different expression(FC≥2.0, P≤0.05), and among the above abnormal expressed miRNAs, 22 were up-expressed (over-expression), 5 were down-expressed (under-expression). The expression levels of miR-664a-5p, miR-1207-5p, miR-3141, miR-1228-5p and miR-4505 in non-specific mental retardation patients group(3.93±3.82, 2.48±3.45, 2.75±3.62, 10.03±3.59, 5.35±3.44, respectively) were significantly up-expressed compared with the control group(5.47±3.59, 3.95±1.3.57, 4.14±3.68, 13.23±5.05, 6.85±3.22, P<0.05-0.01). Conclusion There are many differentially expressed miRNAs between the patients with non-specific mental retardation and healthy controls. Key words: miRNAs; Non-specific mental retardation; Gene chips