Potential Roles of miRNA-1245a Regulatory Networks in Sarcopenia

Sarcopenia is a universal problem in elderly individuals. The molecular regulatory mechanisms in sarcopenia are not well understood. In the present study, we explored a possible molecular mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of sarcopenia.

Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Signaling pathways related to these DEGs were identified by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Pearson correlation was calculated for all the pairwise comparisons of gene expression values between coding genes and DEGs. Interactions between the proteins encoded by the DEGs were identified using the STRING database. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) biological pathway analyses were performed to predict the functions of the DEGs.

Three differentially expressed miRNAs and 5 differentially expressed mRNAs were identified in association with DEGs. We found that miRNA-1245a expression in patients with sarcopenia was higher than that in healthy controls. The GSEA showed that many pathways, such as the JAK-STAT signaling pathway and pathways related to glioma, gap junctions, and regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, were enriched in the high-miRNA-1245a-expression group. A total of 127 miRNA-1245a-related mRNAs were identified. The GO and KEGG analyses revealed that miRNA-1245a had a strong effect on a number of fundamental biological processes, such as kinase activity, that are related to the development of sarcopenia.

Our analyses indicate that miRNA-1245a may be a potential key molecule in the diagnosis and treatment of sarcopenia, which provides a basis for the research of miRNA in sarcopenia.