Altered expression of four mi RNA (miR‐1238‐3p, miR‐202‐3p, miR‐630 and miR‐766‐3p) and their potential targets in peripheral blood from vitiligo patients

Vitiligo is an acquired skin disease with pigmentary disorder. Autoimmune destruction of melanocytes is thought to be major factor in the etiology of vitiligo. mi RNA ‐based regulators of gene expression have been reported to play crucial roles in autoimmune disease. Therefore, we attempt to profile the mi RNA expressions and predict their potential targets, assessing the biological functions of differentially expressed mi RNA . Total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood of vitiligo (experimental group, n = 5) and non‐vitiligo (control group, n = 5) age‐matched patients. Samples were hybridized to a mi RNA array. Box, scatter and principal component analysis plots were performed, followed by unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis to classify the samples. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction ( RT – PCR ) was conducted for validation of microarray data. Three different databases, TargetScan, PITA and micro RNA .org, were used to predict the potential target genes. Gene ontology ( GO ) annotation and pathway analysis were performed to assess the potential functions of predicted genes of identified mi RNA . A total of 100 (29 upregulated and 71 downregulated) mi RNA were filtered by volcano plot analysis. Four mi RNA were validated by quantitative RT – PCR as significantly downregulated in the vitiligo group. The functions of predicted target genes associated with differentially expressed mi RNA were assessed by GO analysis, showing that the GO term with most significantly enriched target genes was axon guidance, and that the axon guidance pathway was most significantly correlated with these mi RNA . In conclusion, we identified four downregulated mi RNA in vitiligo and assessed the potential functions of target genes related to these differentially expressed mi RNA .