Age-related ceRNA networks and the mRNA/protein correlation in Drosophila ageing

Background As Drosophila is a classic model organism, understanding of the regulatory networks has great significance in revealing the genetic mechanisms of ageing and human diseases. Competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA)-mediated regulation is an important mechanism of circular RNA (circRNA) and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) regulation in ageing and age-related disease. However, extensive analyses of the multi-omics (circRNA/miRNA/mRNA, lncRNA/miRNA/mRNA, and mRNA/protein) characteristics of adult Drosophila ageing have not been reported. Our results determine the ceRNA networks and the mRNA/protein correlations of key differentially expressed genes in adult Drosophila aging, and provide a solid foundation for understanding mechanisms of human ageing and ageing-related diseases. Results Here, differentially expressed circRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs) between 7 and 42 day old Drosophila were screened and identified. Then, the differentially expressed mRNAs, circRNAs, miRNAs, lncRNAs, and proteins between day 7 and day 42 were used to analyse fly age-related circRNA/miRNA/mRNA and lncRNA/miRNA/mRNA networks and the mRNA/protein correlation in Drosophila ageing. Several key ceRNA networks were identified, such as the circ_0006913/miR-985-3p/Abl, circ_0009500/miR-14-5p/SERCA, XLOC_100429/miR-14-5p/SERCA, and XLOC_100429/miR-14-5p/Vha100-4 networks. Subsequently, 16 pairs of differentially expressed interacting mRNAs/proteins were found, including 10 pairs with the same expression trends and 6 pairs with the opposite expression trends. Furthermore, real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to verify the expression level of those genes. Conclusions The discovery of these ceRNA networks and the mRNA/protein correlations in adult Drosophila ageing will provide new information for research on human ageing and age-related disease.