Subcutaneous implantation of Icariin with gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogel sustained-release system improves ovarian function in reproductive aged mice

RNA sequencing analysis was performed on ovaries from mice in both the control group（C2-C5） and the GelMA/ICA group（GI2-GI5） at 2 weeks postsurgery (4 vs. 4). Libraries were constructed using the TruSeq Stranded mRNA LT Sample Prep Kit (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA). RNA sequencing was performed by Shanghai APTBIO Co, Ltd (China) using the Illumina platform. The raw sequencing data were assessed for quality with FastQC to remove low-quality reads. The resulting CleanReads were subsequently aligned with the reference genome, and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed via DESeq2 between two groups. The results were further analyzed for gene enrichment using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis.