ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Diabetes: Molecular Mechanisms
This article is part of the Research TopicGenetic Mechanisms in Diabetes PathogenesisView all 14 articles
Transcriptomic Profiling of Diabetic Retinopathy: Insights into RPL11 and Bisphenol A
Provisionally accepted
Jian Zhang1
Xin Yang2*- 1People's Hospital of Tongchuan, Tongchuan, China
- 2Xi’an People’s Hospital (Xi’an Fourth Hospital), Xi’an, China
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Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR), a leading microvascular complication of diabetes, causes irreversible adult vision loss, but its pathogenesis—especially crosstalk between core genes, immune microenvironment, and environmental factors—remains unclear, hindering effective strategies. Objective: To elucidate DR mechanisms via transcriptomics and explore in silico interactions between ribosomal protein L11 (RPL11) and bisphenol A (BPA). Methods: Peripheral blood RNA-seq data (GSE221521) were analyzed via R. DEGs, WGCNA, GO/KEGG, GSEA, CIBERSORT, molecular docking, and GROMACS simulations were used. Results: Differential analysis identified 341 DR-specific DEGs; WGCNA yielded 38 modules (top: “black/brown”). Venn analysis found 201 key genes. RPL11, downregulated in DR (log₂FC=-0.67, adjusted P=4.19×10⁻⁵), had high diagnostic value (AUC=0.796, 95%CI:0.716–0.875). BPA bound RPL11 (binding energy=-5.491 kcal/mol), with stable BPA-RPL11 complex (backbone RMSD:0.45–0.55 nm post-60 ns). Conclusion: RPL11 is a hypothesis-generating DR-associated molecule in peripheral blood. BPA-RPL11 interaction (in silico) suggests a potential DR link, requiring validation. Minimizing BPA exposure may be a candidate DR risk mitigation strategy.
Keywords: Diabetic Retinopathy, ribosomal protein L11 (RPL11), bisphenol A (BPA), molecular docking, molecular dynamics
Received: 14 Sep 2025; Accepted: 11 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xin Yang, yxpower@qq.com
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