Integrated miRNA and mRNA Analysis Provides New Insight into Mechanism of dermal papilla in Androgenetic Alopecia

Abstract Background Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a generally progressive type of hair loss, characterized by hair cycle abnormalities and hair miniaturization, with genetic predisposition and androgen-dependence. Although microRNAs (miRNAs) play indispensable roles in the control of many biological processes in hair follicle (HF), the miRNA-based regulation in the hair follicular mesenchyme remains utterly unknown so far. For this reason, we constructed a miRNA-mRNA interaction network by integrating analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression from balding and non-balding dermal papilla cells (DPCs) to study the underlying mechanism of AGA. Methods The mRNA and the miRNA expression profiles were downloaded from previously studies. Among all different mRNAs, top 10 hub genes, MYC, KRAS, RAF1, CCND1, FOS, MAPK3, STAT1, IL6, ETS1 and AKT1 were identified form PPI network. Then, the up-regulated miRNAs and the down-regulated mRNAs were integrated to construct a miRNA-mRNA interaction network. Results Pathway analysis revealed that the miRNA-mRNA network mainly involved MAPK signaling pathway, Ras signaling pathway, Rap1 signaling pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, P13K-Akt signaling pathway and Apoptosis. Conclusions These findings highlight the top 10 hub genes which may play significant roles in pathology of AGA. Meanwhile, miRNA-mRNA network pathway analysis offers a novel insight into potential etiology and mechanism of AGA.