Functional network analysis reveals biological roles of lncRNAs and mRNAs in MOG35–55 specific CD4+T helper cells

Abstract

Long non-coding RNAs have the potential to regulate immune responses. Their impact on multiple sclerosis has remained elusive. For illustrating their roles in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) pathogenesis, we investigated the differential expression of lncRNAs and mRNAs in CD4Th cells obtained from myelin oligodendrocytic glycoprotein(MOG)-induced EAE and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) controls. We observed differential expression of 1112 lncRNAs and 519 mRNAs in CD4Th cells. The functional network showed lncRNAs had the capacity to modulate EAE pathogenesis via regulating many known EAE regulators such as Ptpn6. Predicting the function of lncRNAs demonstrated that dysregulated lncRNAs were closely associated with the development of EAE. These dysregulated lncRNAs may have function in EAE and they could be novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets of EAE. However, the precise mechanisms and biological functions of these specific lncRNAs in EAE pathogenesis require further study.

Long noncoding RNAs associated with phenotypic severity in multiple sclerosis

“…Though the study was unable to identify differential expression of either the lncRNA candidate or its associated gene, significant correlation between lnc-IL-7R and IL-7Ra were seen in both MS and healthy groups. These studies suggest a potential functional role of lncRNA transcripts in regulation of gene targets in MS. Several studies using animal models have also considered the role of lncRNAs in MS pathogenesis (Duan et al, 2018;Guo et al, 2017;Li et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2018;Sun et al, 2017), or combinations of human participants and animal model studies (Masoumi et al, 2019;Pahlevan Kakhki et al, 2018). These studies have demonstrated the role of multiple lncRNA transcripts in differentiation of CD4 + T cell linages.…”