Identification of pathways and genes associated with meniscus degeneration using bioinformatics analyses

Abstract

Objective: To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying meniscus degeneration.

Methods: We performed anterior cruciate ligament resection in the Hainan Wuzhishan pig to establish a meniscus degeneration model. We applied gene chip technology to detect differentially expressed genes (DEG) in the degenerative meniscus tissues. We applied Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, core gene network, and relevant MicroRNA analyses to identify regulatory networks relevant to meniscus degeneration. We detected 893 differentially expressed genes, mainly involved in hormone production, apoptosis, and inflammation.

Results: We found that MUC13, inflammatory mediator regulation of TRP channels, MDFI, and miR-335-5p may play a key role in the degenerative meniscus tissue.

Conclusion: We found that meniscus degeneration involves several molecular mechanisms and provide molecular targets for future research into the disease.

Keywords: Differentially expressed genes; Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes; MicroRNA; Wuzhishan pig; gene ontology; molecular targets.