Rat Life Cycle Kidney miRNA Expression Data

Kidney miRNA expression was examined in F344 rats at 2, 5, 6, 8, 15, 21, 78, and 104 weeks of age in both sexes using Agilent miRNA microarrays. 311 miRNAs were found to be expressed in at least one age and sex. Filtering criteria of ≥1.5 fold change and ANOVA (FDR <5%) revealed 174 differentially expressed miRNAs in the kidney; 173 and 34 miRNAs exhibiting age and sex effects, respectively. Principal component analysis revealed age effects predominated over sex effects, with 2 week miRNA expression being much different from other ages. No significant sexually dimorphic miRNA expression was observed from 5 to 8 weeks, while the most differential expression (13 miRNAs) was observed at 21 weeks. Potential target genes of these differentially expressed miRNAs were identified. Pathway analysis was used to investigate the possible roles of these target genes in age- and sex-specific differences. Untreated male and female F344 rats from 2, 5, 6, 8, 15, 21, 78, and 104 weeks of age (n=5) were sacrificed by CO2 asphyxiation, whole kidneys collected and homogenized, total RNA, including small RNA fraction, was used for miRNA expression arrays (Agilent).

本研究采用安捷伦（Agilent）miRNA微阵列芯片，对不同性别、2、5、6、8、15、21、78及104周龄的F344大鼠肾脏组织的微小RNA（miRNA）表达水平进行了检测。最终在至少一个年龄与性别组合中检测到311种miRNA的表达。通过≥1.5倍表达变化以及方差分析（ANOVA，错误发现率FDR<5%）的筛选标准，共鉴定出174种在肾脏组织中差异表达的miRNA，其中173种呈现年龄相关表达差异，34种呈现性别相关表达差异。主成分分析结果显示，年龄对miRNA表达的影响显著强于性别，且2周龄大鼠的miRNA表达谱与其余各周龄组差异显著。在5至8周龄阶段，未检测到显著的性别二态性miRNA表达；而差异表达miRNA数量最多的阶段为21周龄，共涉及13种miRNA。本研究还预测了上述差异表达miRNA的潜在靶基因，并通过通路分析探究了这些靶基因在年龄与性别特异性表达差异中的潜在功能。实验所用的未处理雌雄F344大鼠分别为2、5、6、8、15、21、78及104周龄，每组n=5，采用CO₂窒息法处死，采集全肾组织并匀浆，提取包含小RNA组分在内的总RNA，用于后续的miRNA表达芯片（安捷伦）检测。