MicroRNA regulators of candidate genes involved in Class II skeletal malocclusion - A data mining approach.

Background: Epigenetic regulators play a vital role in determining a complex phenotype. The Skeletal Class II malocclusion is one such phenotype, which is a polygenic, complex disorder. The identification of epigenetic regulators would aid in understanding the complex relationship between the epigenetic marks and the phenotype. Also, these epigenetic marks can be considered for developing diagnostic leads upon validation for a specific disorder. Materials and methods: The present study follows an observational study design, which was performed using computational tools. The preliminary data about the genes associated with the Skeletal class II malocclusion was derived from DisGeNet, followed by identification of the protein-protein interaction networks. The microRNA targets were then identified using miRDB and the unique microRNA population common to all the five genes were further curated using the Venn plot. Results: The DisGeNet database provided information on the genes that were associated with skeletal Class II malocclusion. The five genes identified were ACTN3, GH1, HDAC4, HMGA2 and KAT6B. One microRNA, hsa-miR-892c-5p was unique to ACTN3, HDAC4 and HMGA2. The hsa-miR-3925-5p and hsa-miR-590-3p were found to be common to the genes ACTN3, HDAC4 and GH1 + HMGA2 respectively. Discussion: The identification of microRNAs targeting candidate genes could aid in defining the role of these microRNAs in establishing the phenotype. The future scope of this study lies in curating microRNAs that are common to class II malocclusion related candidate genes. This panel of differentially expressed microRNAs can further be developed as early diagnostic marker, for identifying the skeletal abnormality that they would be possibly associated with.