Differential expression of genes related to cellular senescence during embryonic kidney development in mice

Abstract

Objective To analyze the cellular senescence pathways and their associated genes with bioinformatic analysis by screening differentially expressed genes (DEGs) during embryonic kidney development with aid of transcriptomics in order to explore the relationship between cellular senescence and embryonic kidney development. Methods After the kidney tissues from mice at embryonic age of 14.5 days (E14.5 group) and 18.5 days (E18.5 group) were collected, the kidney tissue structure was observed with periodic acid Schiff (PAS) staining, the expression profiles of the related genes during embryonic kidney development were analyzed by transcriptomics, and the changes in the genes related to cellular senescence were further analyzed with bioinformatics. The expression levels of target genes were verified by real-time quantitative fluorescence PCR and Western blotting. Results With the development of the embryonic kidney, the kidney structure gradually matured. The results of transcriptomic and bioinformatic analyses revealed that cellular senescence-related genes played an important role in the development of embryonic kidney. The mRNA and protein levels of Cdkn1a(P21), which was correlated with cellular senescence, were significantly higher (P < 0.05), while the mRNA levels of Skp2, Ccne1, Ccnd2, and Cdk4 were decreased in the E18.5 group than the E14.5 group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Obvious changes in the expression levels of cellular senescence-related genes are observed during embryonic kidney development, suggesting that cellular senescence plays an important role in the development.

Keywords

• embryonic kidney development
• cellular senescence
• transcriptomic sequencing
• bioinformatic analysis