Screening,function and regulatory protein interaction network analysis of differentially expressed LncRNAs in serum exosomes of obese mice
Objective To screen the differentially expressed LncRNAs in serum exosomes of obese mice and control mice,to analyse the gene ontology function and related signaling pathways of the target genes associated with the differen-tially expressed LncRNAs,and to conduct interaction network analysis of proteins regulated by differentially expressed ln-cRNAs,in order to explore the relationship between the differentially expressed LncRNAs and the occurrence of obesity.Methods Twelve C57BL/6 mice were fed with high-fat diet(obese group)and 12 were fed with normal diet(control group),and the body mass of the mice was examined after 8 weeks of feeding to determine the success of the construction of the obese mouse models.The serum exosomes of mice in the two groups were extracted and were subjected to high-throughput sequencing to screen for differentially expressed LncRNAs,and GO and KEGG analyses of the differentially ex-pressed genes were performed by applying TopGO software and KEGG database.The STRING protein interaction network database was used to construct the protein interaction network of differentially expressed genes and we screened the obesity closely related proteins regulated by differentially expressed lncRNAs.Results In serum exosomes of the two groups,a total of 201 differentially expressed lncRNAs were screened out,of which 32 were up-regulated and 169 were down-regulat-ed,and were mainly found in the intracellular part(of which 712 candidate genes were enriched),intracellular(of which 730 candidate genes were enriched),and organelle part(of which 483 candidate genes were enriched),mainly involving fatty acid degradation,MAPK signaling pathway and other related pathways.Eight obesity closely related proteins(Ehmt1,Epha3,MAPK13,Mark4,Irak2,Fgfr4,Prkce,and MAPK1)were initially screened out.Conclusion A to-tal of 201 differentially expressed lncRNAs were screened out in serum exosomes of obese and control mice,of which 32 were up-regulated and 169 were down-regulated.The differentially expressed lncRNAs were mainly involved in fatty acid degradation and MAPK signalling pathway.Eight obesity-related proteins(Ehmt1,Epha3,MAPK13,Mark4,Irak2,Fg-fr4,Prkce,and MAPK1)were preliminarily screened out;the differentially expressed lncRNAs might be related to the oc-currence of obesity.