Expression profiling of microRNAs in oxygen-induced retinal neovascularization in mice

The purpose of this study is to identify disease-related miRNAs in retinas of a mouse model of oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR). OIR pups were exposed to 75% oxygen at postnatal day (P)7 for 5 days, and were returned to room air at P12. The miRNAs expression profiles in the retinas from OIR mice at P17 and room air controls were determined through microarray analysis. Expressions of significantly upregulated and downregulated miRNAs in the OIR retinas and controls were confirmed through quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qPCR). Compared to the room air controls, 3 miRNAs were significantly up-regulated, and 8 miRNAs were down-regulated in OIR retinas. Our findings indicated that several miRNAs were differentially expressed in the oxygen-induced retinal neovascularization, which might provide novel therapeutic targets in regulating retinal neovascular diseases. In this study, three samples from OIR mice retinas and another three samples from room air control mice retinas at postnatal day 17 were used to acquire the miRNA expression profiling.