Medical Research Center, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No.1 Shuaifuyuan Wangfujing Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, China.
Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China.
Mol Biol Rep. 2020 May;47(5):3407-3421. doi: 10.1007/s11033-020-05421-7. Epub 2020 Apr 24.
Syphilis is a chronic sexually transmitted disease caused by infection with Treponema pallidum, which can invade various system organs, leading to clinical manifestations such as neurosyphilis, ocular syphilis, and cardiovascular syphilis and seriously endangering human health. Serofast status is a common outcome after syphilis treatment that presents an important clinical problem. At present, the etiology of serofast status remains unknown. A systematic investigation of the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with serofast status or secondary syphilis and of healthy control subjects was conducted using small RNA-seq. The expression of miRNAs was further confirmed by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays. The data reveal a specific miRNA expression profile that was displayed in cells from patients with serofast status. Known and novel predicted (np)-miRNAs were also identified and verified, such as miR-338-5p, np-miR-163, np-miR-128, np-miR-244, and np-miR-5, which together may be used as indicators for treatment evaluation. The functions of genes targeted by the miRNAs differentially expressed in serofast status patients were further analyzed; these genes were found to be involved in various biological functions, such as T-cell receptor signaling pathways, metabolism, and growth. Our study presents the first systematic landscape of miRNAs in PBMCs from patients with serofast status and proposes specific miRNAs linked with serofast status. Our results provide further evidence that serofast status is closely related to host immune function. Additionally, the miRNA expression profile in PBMCs of patients with serofast status generated by this work offers insight into the complex immune network in humans. We hope our results can provide new insights into the pathogenesis of serofast status.
梅毒是一种由苍白密螺旋体感染引起的慢性性传播疾病，可侵犯多种系统器官，导致神经梅毒、眼梅毒、心血管梅毒等临床症状，严重危害人类健康。血清固定状态是梅毒治疗后的常见转归，是一个重要的临床问题。目前，血清固定状态的病因仍不清楚。本研究采用小 RNA-seq 技术对血清固定状态患者和二期梅毒患者及健康对照者外周血单个核细胞(PBMCs)中的微小 RNA(miRNA)表达谱进行了系统研究，并通过实时荧光定量 PCR(qPCR)检测进一步验证了 miRNA 的表达。结果显示，血清固定状态患者细胞中存在特定的 miRNA 表达谱。还鉴定和验证了已知和新预测(np)-miRNA，如 miR-338-5p、np-miR-163、np-miR-128、np-miR-244 和 np-miR-5，它们可能共同作为治疗评估的指标。进一步分析了血清固定状态患者差异表达 miRNA 靶向基因的功能，这些基因涉及 T 细胞受体信号通路、代谢和生长等多种生物学功能。本研究首次系统地描绘了血清固定状态患者 PBMCs 中的 miRNA 图谱，并提出了与血清固定状态相关的特定 miRNA。我们的研究结果进一步表明，血清固定状态与宿主免疫功能密切相关。此外，本研究工作还为血清固定状态患者 PBMCs 的 miRNA 表达谱提供了人类复杂免疫网络的新见解。我们希望我们的研究结果能为血清固定状态的发病机制提供新的思路。
