Identification of core genes in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease based on mRNA-miRNA network

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with cognitive impairment and abnormal mental behaviour. There is currently no effective cure. The development of early diagnostic markers and the mining of potential therapeutic targets are one of the important strategies. This study aimed to explore potential biomarkers or therapeutic targets related to AD in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, two brain regions highly related to AD. Differentially expressed genes and miRNAs between AD patients and healthy controls were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The mRNA-miRNA network was constructed and key genes involved in AD were screened out by protein-protein interaction analysis, and were subsequently verified by independent datasets and qPCR in an AD mouse model. Our findings showed that six hub genes including CALN1, TRPM7, ATR, SOCS3, MOB3A and OGDH were believed to be involved in the pathogenesis of AD. Western blot analysis further determined that CALN1, ATR and OGDH were the possible biomarkers and therapeutic targets for AD. In addition, 6 possible miRNAs biomarkers have also been verified by qPCR on AD animal models. Our findings may benefit clinical diagnosis and early prevention of AD.