• Ni Wu, Jun Yan, Tao Han, Jijun Zou, and Weimin Shen.
• Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Gulou Area, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2018 Jun 1; 97 (25): e11224.

BackgroundOrofacial clefts include cleft lip only (CLO), cleft palate only (CPO), and cleft lip with palate (CLP). Previously, we reported the expression profile of plasma microRNAs in CLO, CPO, and CLP, respectively. However, the interaction of each subtype remains poorly investigated.MethodsIn this study, we integrated the expression profiles of plasma miRNAs in these 3 subtypes, and assessed the distinct and overlapping dysregulated miRNAs using Venn diagrams. Their respective target genes reported in the literature were further analyzed using pathway analysis.Results And ConclusionThe results showed that distinct or overlapping signaling pathways were involved in CLO, CPO, and CLP. The common key gene targets reflected functional relationships to the Wnt, Notch, TGF-beta, and Hedgehog signaling pathways. Further studies should examine the mechanism of the potential target genes, which may provide new avenues for future clinical prevention and therapy.

19 keywords...

hide…