RNA-sequencing study of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in sporadic Meniere's disease patients: possible contribution of immunologic dysfunction to the development of this disorder

Summary

To date, the pathogenesis of Meniere's disease (MD) remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the possible relationship between potential immune system related genes and sporadic Meniere's disease. The whole RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) technology was used to analyze the transcriptome of peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 3 MD patients and 3 control individuals. Of 366 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 154 genes were up-regulated and 212 genes were down-regulated (|log2Foldchange| >1 and p <0.05). Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis illustrated that immune relevant factors played a key role in the pathogenesis of MD. Of 366 DEGs, we focused on analyzing the possible immune related genes, among which, the significantly up-regulated genes (GSTM1, TMEM176B, TMEM176A), and down-regulated genes (SLC4A10 and SLC4A1), especially drew our attention. The mRNA expression levels of GSTM1, TMEM176B, TMEM176A, SLC4A1 and SLC4A10 were analyzed by qRT-PCR. The serum concentration of GSTM1, TMEM176B and SLC4A10 proteins were measured by ELISA. Considering the results of qRT-PCR and ELISA, it was noteworthy that GSTM1 exhibited the highest fold change between two groups, which were consistent with the deep sequencing results by RNA-seq. In conclusion, our study first offers a new perspective in MD development on the basis of RNA expression patterns, suggesting that immune factors might be involved in the MD pathogenesis. Remarkably, GSTM1 might be a possible candidate gene for the diagnostic biomarker of MD and provides the basis for further biological and functional investigations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.