Identification of the potential gene regulatory networks and therapeutics in aged mice with postoperative neurocognitive disorder (circRNA). Identification of the potential gene regulatory networks and therapeutics in aged mice with postoperative neurocognitive disorder (circRNA)

Postoperative neurocognitive disorder (PND) is one of the most common postoperative neurological complications in aged patients. In order to detect the differential expression profiles of genes caused by PND, a total of 26 18-month-old male C57BL/6 mice were randomly assigned to control group and PND group. Behavioral tests showed that mice in the PND group had impaired cognitive function compared with the control group. Three mice in each group were randomly selected to harvest the brain for analysis the expressions of circRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs in the prefrontal cortex by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. Differentially expressed genes, including 1192 circRNAs, 27 miRNAs and 266 mRNAs were identified, and its accuracy was further confirmed by qRT-PCR. Overall design: circular RNA expression profiles in the prefrontal cortex of 18-months-old control and PND mice

术后神经认知障碍（Postoperative neurocognitive disorder, PND）是老年患者最常见的术后神经系统并发症之一。为探究PND所致的基因差异表达谱，研究人员将26只18月龄雄性C57BL/6小鼠随机分为对照组与PND组。行为学测试结果显示，与对照组相比，PND组小鼠的认知功能显著受损。研究人员从每组中随机选取3只小鼠摘取脑组织，采用下一代测序（next-generation sequencing, NGS）技术分析其前额叶皮层内环状RNA（circular RNAs, circRNAs）、微小RNA（microRNAs, miRNAs）及信使RNA（messenger RNAs, mRNAs）的表达水平。最终鉴定得到包括1192条环状RNA、27条微小RNA与266条信使RNA在内的差异表达基因，并通过定量实时聚合酶链反应（quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, qRT-PCR）进一步验证了其准确性。整体实验设计：18月龄对照组与PND组小鼠前额叶皮层的环状RNA表达谱