Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) are associated with the PI3K-AKT pathway activation

Aims: We aimed to elucidate the mechanism leading to polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA).

Background: PCOS is an endocrine disorder. Patients with RSA also have a high incidence rate of PCOS, implying that PCOS and RSA may share the same pathological mechanism.

Objective: The single-cell RNA-seq datasets of PCOS (GSE168404 and GSE193123) and RSA GSE113790 and GSE178535) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database.

Methods: Datasets of PSCO and RSA patients were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The "WGCNA" package was used to determine the module eigengenes associated with the PCOS and RSA phenotypes and the gene functions were analyzed using the "DAVID" database. The GSEA analysis was performed in "clusterProfiler" package, and key genes in the activated pathways were identified using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was conducted to determine the mRNA level. Cell viability and apoptosis were measured by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry, respectively.

Results: The modules related to PCOS and RSA were sectioned by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and positive correlation modules of PCOS and RSA were all enriched in angiogenesis and Wnt pathways. The GSEA further revealed that these biological processes of angiogenesis, Wnt and regulation of cell cycle were significantly positively correlated with the PCOS and RSA phenotypes. The intersection of the positive correlation modules of PCOS and RSA contained 80 key genes, which were mainly enriched in kinase-related signal pathways and were significant high-expressed in the disease samples. Subsequently, visualization of these genes including PDGFC, GHR, PRLR and ITGA3 showed that these genes were associated with the PI3K-AKT signal pathway. Moreover, the experimental results showed that PRLR had a higher expression in KGN cells, and that knocking PRLR down suppressed cell viability and promoted apoptosis of KGN cells.

Conclusion: This study revealed the common pathological mechanisms between PCOS and RSA and explored the role of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway in the two diseases, providing a new direction for the clinical treatment of PCOS and RSA.