AB152. Analysis of altered microRNA expression profile in calcium oxalate stone formation

Objective: Calcium oxalate stones account for over 80% of urinary stones, while the molecular mechanism of its formation has been unclear. Hyperoxaluria plays an important role in the pathophysiological process of stone formation. The difference of miRNA expression profiles between experimental hyperoxaluric rats and normal rats is analyzed in our study, in order to find out the target genes and signaling pathways in the pathogenesis procedure of hyperoxaluria.

Methods: Feeding ethylene glycol and ammonium chloride to culture male experimental hyperoxaluric rats as the experimental group, and age-matched male rats were selected as the control group. The oxalate concentration of 24 hour urine of each experimental rat was measured, of which the three highest were selected for microarray test. MicroRNA microarray was applied to evaluate the expression difference between the two groups and screen miRNA whose fold change were above 2.0 or below 0.5. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) technology was used to validate the microarray results. Target prediction, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and pathway analysis were applied to predict the potential roles of microRNAs in biological processes.

Results: There are 28 miRNAs differentially expressed with a more than 2.0-fold change. Among these miRNAs, 20 were up-regulated while 8 were down-regulated. After GO analysis and pathway analysis, the insulin resistance pathway and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway were associated with miRNA regulation.

Conclusions: This study identified differentially expressed miRNAs in hyperoxaluric rats, providing new insights into the role of miRNA in the formation of calcium oxalate stones.

Keywords: miRNA; hyperoxaluria; calcium oxalate stones