Abstract
BackgroundAge-related cataract (ARC) is the main cause of blindness in older individuals but its specific pathogenic mechanism is unclear. This study aimed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with ARC and to improve our understanding of the disease mechanism.MethodsAnterior capsule samples of the human lens were collected from ARC patients and healthy controls and used for RNA sequencing to detect DEGs. Identified DEGs underwent bioinformatics analyses, including Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses. Subsequently, reverse transcription quantitative RT-qPCR was used to validate the different expression levels of selected genes.ResultsA total of 698 up-regulated DEGs and 414 down-regulated DEGs were identified in ARC patients compared with controls by transcriptome analysis. Through GO and KEGG bioinformatics analysis, the functions of significantly DEGs and their possible molecular mechanisms were determined. Sequencing results were verified by RT-qPCR as being accurate and reliable.ConclusionsThis study identified several genes associated with ARC, which improves our knowledge of the disease mechanism.
Highlights
Age-related cataract (ARC) is the main cause of blindness in older individuals but its specific pathogenic mechanism is unclear
This study identified several genes associated with ARC, which improves our knowledge of the disease mechanism
Some genes that we identified were previously reported to be related to the pathogenesis of ARC, such as CRYA2 and HSF4 [14, 15], and we have verified these genes used Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) that are consistent with the results
Summary
Age-related cataract (ARC) is the main cause of blindness in older individuals but its specific pathogenic mechanism is unclear. This study aimed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with ARC and to improve our understanding of the disease mechanism. Lens epithelial cells are the only nucleated cells in the lens, and as such contain most of the metabolic, protective, permeable, and other regulatory systems [6]. They communicate with the underlying lens fiber cells and respond to cataract-related damage by altering gene expression [7]. Several genes associated with the pathogenesis of ARC have been identified, many have not been
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