Pan Lianjun, Ma Jiehua, Pan Feng, Zhao Dan, Gao Jianping
Cell Physiol Biochem. 2015;37(4):1513-26. doi: 10.1159/000438519. Epub 2015 Oct 30.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Erectile dysfunction (ED) in aged people remains a topic of interest to andrological physicians. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which form the largest group of non-coding RNAs, have been shown to regulate various biological processes. The function of lncRNAs in age-related erectile dysfunction (A-ED) pathogenesis remains poorly understood.
This study aims to assess the differential expression profiles of mRNAs and lncRNAs between A-ED and normal control (NC) samples. Using a second-generation lncRNA microarray, we detected a total of 8,744 lncRNAs and 13,585 coding transcripts.
We identified 608 up-regulated and 406 down-regulated lncRNAs in A-ED compared with NC samples, by setting a filter of fold-change >2.0. Gene Ontology and pathway analysis revealed that a muscle contraction disorder induced by abnormal ion channels might play a critical role in the pathogenesis of A-ED.
Our results show significantly altered expression profiles of lncRNAs and mRNAs between A-ED and NC. This study may provide information for further research on A-ED and may be helpful for finding a new therapeutic target for A-ED.
背景/目的：老年男性勃起功能障碍（ED）仍是男科医生关注的话题。长链非编码RNA（lncRNA）是最大的非编码RNA群体，已被证明可调节多种生物学过程。lncRNA在年龄相关性勃起功能障碍（A-ED）发病机制中的作用仍知之甚少。
本研究旨在评估A-ED样本与正常对照（NC）样本之间mRNA和lncRNA的差异表达谱。使用第二代lncRNA微阵列，我们共检测到8744个lncRNA和13585个编码转录本。
通过设置变化倍数>2.0的筛选标准，我们发现与NC样本相比，A-ED中有608个lncRNA上调，406个lncRNA下调。基因本体论和通路分析表明，离子通道异常引起的肌肉收缩障碍可能在A-ED的发病机制中起关键作用。
我们的结果显示A-ED和NC之间lncRNA和mRNA的表达谱有显著改变。本研究可能为进一步研究A-ED提供信息，并可能有助于找到A-ED的新治疗靶点。
