Transcriptional landscape of intestinal environment in DSS-induced ulcerative colitis mouse model

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the colon and is becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide. To identify new diagnostic and therapeutic avenues for UC, we sequenced colons of UC mouse models and analyze their difference in expressed genes (DEGs), pathway, construct protein-protein interaction (PPI) and ceRNA networks. We identified novel DEGs include Tppp3, Saa3, Cemip, Pappa, Nr1d1, and found they enriched in cytokine-mediated signaling, extracellular matrix organization, extracellular structure organization, and external encapsulating structure organization, indicating that UC pathogenesis is significantly affected by the functional and clinically significant interactions between immune and non-immune cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Besides, several important nodes were found in Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, such as Stat3, Il1b, Mmp3, and Lgals3, and found them involved in cytokine-mediated signaling pathway playing a critical role in inflammation. Additionally, ceRNA network analysis revealed the involvement of Smad7 lncRNA. The hub miRNAs in the ceRNA network were mmu-miR-17-5p, mmu-miR-93-5p, mmu-miR-20b-5p, mmu-miR-16-5p, and mmu-miR-106a-5p, while the hub mRNAs were Egln3, Plagl2, Sema7a, Arrdc3, and Stat3. These findings suggest that ceRNA networks play a role in the progression of UC and may aid in elucidating its pathogenesis.