Clinical significance of identification of serum exosomal miRNA in postmenopausal osteoporosis patients by next-generation sequencing combined with bioinformatics analysis

ObjectiveTo study serum exosomal microRNA (miRNA) as potential biomarkers for predicting osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

MethodsMiRNA in the serum of female patients with osteoporosis over 65 years old and healthy controls was detected.RNA sequencing was used to identify differentially expressed miRNA.TargetScan, PicTar, and miRanda databases were used to predict target genes.A protein protein interaction (PPI) network using the STRING database was constructed and visualized using Cytoscape software.Finally, the biological functions of the target gene were analyzed using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG).

ResultsEight significantly upregulated miRNAs were found in postmenopausal female patients with osteoporosis.Using the cytohubba plugin in Cytoscope, the top ten core genes were calculated based on their network functionality, including SOS1, ITGB3, SMAD4, PAK1, NRAS, PLCG1, MET, HGF, CCND1, and CDKN1B.GO enrichment analysis showed that the target genes were mainly concentrated in protein binding, metal ion binding, DNA binding, and ATP binding.The PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway were the most significantly enriched target gene signaling pathways.

ConclusionsAbnormal serum exosomal microRNAs are associated with postmenopausal osteoporosis and can serve as potential biomarkers for predicting osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.