Profiling of differentially expressed microRNAs in premature ovarian failure in an animal model

Premature ovarian failure (POF) contributes to amenorrhoea, infertility, early onset of menostasia and osteoporosis. This study profiled differentially expressed miRNAs for association with POF development. Ovarian tissue samples from 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD)-induced rat POF and normal rats were profiled for differentially expressed miRNAs using miRNA microarrays. A total of 63 miRNAs were up-regulated and 20 miRNAs were down-regulated in rat POF tissues versus the control tissues. qRT-PCR verified some of these altered miRNAs, i.e. miR-29a and miR-144 were down-regulated in POF tissues, which may target expression of PLA2G4A that is involved in prostaglandin biosynthesis, whereas miR-27b and miR-190 were up-regulated in POF tissues by negative control of PAPPA and CCL2 expression, respectively, both of which have been shown to relate to response to hormone stimulus. Moreover, the up-regulated miR-151 and miR-672 can also target expression of TNFSF10 and FNDC1, which have been shown to positively regulate cell apoptosis. Profiling of differentially expressed miRNAs in POF provided a novel insight into the molecular events involving the role of miRNAs in POF development with specific emphasis upon miR-27b, miR-190, miR-151, miR-672, miR-29a and miR-144.