Transcriptomic analysis identifies novel potential biomarkers and highlights cilium-related biological processes in the early stages of prion disease in mice

Prion diseases are fatal and irreversible neurodegenerative diseases induced by the pathogenic form of the prion protein (PrP(Sc)), which is converted from the benign form of the prion protein (PrP(C)). These diseases are characterized by an extended asymptomatic incubation period accompanied by continuous conversion of PrP(C) to PrP(Sc). However, to date, the mechanism governing the conversion to PrP(Sc) in the initial stages of prion disease has not been fully elucidated. We collected transcriptome data from the hippocampus of wild-type mice and prion-infected mice at 8 weeks post injection from the Gene Expression Omnibus and analysed differentially expressed genes and related signalling biological process using bioinformatic tools. We identified a total of 36 differentially expressed genes, including 22 upregulated genes and 14 downregulated genes. In addition, we identified that the cilium-related biological process was enriched in the early stages of prion disease. Furthermore, up- and down-regulated genes were associated with cilium-related cellular components and synapse-related cellular components, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, our study was the first to observe the upregulation of cilium-related genes in the early stages of prion disease.