Abnormal Platelet miRNA Profile Associated with Endometriosis

Abstract

Endometriosis (EM) is a condition characterized by the growth of functional endometrium in areas other than the uterus. In this study, microRNAs (miRNAs) were extracted from peripheral blood platelets from patients diagnosed with EM and from healthy controls for high-throughput sequencing; differential expression of miR-542-3p and miR-618 was identified via database comparisons. Dual pathway enrichment analysis revealed that both miRNAs may target the cyclin protein, G1/S-specific cyclin-D2 (CCND2). CCND2 was verified as a target gene of both miR-542-3p and miR-618 via experiments carried out in vivo. Taken together, these results reveal that CCND2 may serve as a functional biomarker for the diagnosis of EM.