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Aberrant expression of long noncoding RNAs in cumulus cells isolated from PCOS patients

  • Reproductive Physiology and Disease
  • Published:
Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To describe the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) profiles in cumulus cells isolated from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients by employing a microarray and in-depth bioinformatics analysis. This information will help us understand the occurrence and development of PCOS.

Methods

In this study, we used a microarray to describe lncRNA profiles in cumulus cells isolated from ten patients (five PCOS and five normal women). Several differentially expressed lncRNAs were chosen to validate the microarray results by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). Then, the differentially expressed lncRNAs were classified into three subgroups (HOX loci lncRNA, enhancer-like lncRNA, and lincRNA) to deduce their potential features. Furthermore, a lncRNA/mRNA co-expression network was constructed by using the Cytoscape software (V2.8.3, http://www.cytoscape.org/).

Results

We observed that 623 lncRNAs and 260 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) were significantly up- or down-regulated (≥2-fold change), and these differences could be used to discriminate cumulus cells of PCOS from those of normal patients. Five differentially expressed lncRNAs (XLOC_011402, ENST00000454271, ENST00000433673, ENST00000450294, and ENST00000432431) were selected to validate the microarray results using quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). The qRT-PCR results were consistent with the microarray data. Further analysis indicated that many differentially expressed lncRNAs were transcribed from chromosome 2 and may act as enhancers to regulate their neighboring protein-coding genes. Forty-three lncRNAs and 29 mRNAs were used to construct the coding-non-coding gene co-expression network. Most pairs positively correlated, and one mRNA correlated with one or more lncRNAs.

Conclusions

Our study is the first to determine genome-wide lncRNA expression patterns in cumulus cells isolated from PCOS patients by microarray. The results show that clusters of lncRNAs were aberrantly expressed in cumulus cells of PCOS patients compared with those of normal women, which revealed that lncRNAs differentially expressed in PCOS and normal women may contribute to the occurrence of PCOS and affect oocyte development.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the CapitalBio Corporation for conducting the RNA extractions and microarrays.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Reproductive Medicine Centre, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao Medical University, Yuhuangding Hospital of Yantai, 20 Yuhuangding Road East, Yantai, Shandong, 264000, People’s Republic of China

    Xin Huang, Cuifang Hao, Hongchu Bao, Meimei Wang & Huangguan Dai

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  1. Xin Huang
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  2. Cuifang Hao
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  3. Hongchu Bao
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  4. Meimei Wang
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  5. Huangguan Dai
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Correspondence to Xin Huang or Cuifang Hao.

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Compliance with ethical standards

This study was approved by the institutional ethical review board of The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao Medical University (Yuhuangding Hospital of Yantai).

Financial disclosure

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 81401172 and 81170622) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant ZR2013HQ004).

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Our study is the first to determine genome-wide lncRNA expression patterns in cumulus cells isolated from PCOS patients by microarray.

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Huang, X., Hao, C., Bao, H. et al. Aberrant expression of long noncoding RNAs in cumulus cells isolated from PCOS patients. J Assist Reprod Genet 33, 111–121 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-015-0630-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-015-0630-z

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