Long Non-Coding RNAs Modulate Sjögren’s Syndrome Associated Gene Expression and Are Involved in the Pathogenesis of the Disease

Journal of Clinical Medicine

Antonio Puccetti¹  Claudio Lunardi²  Marzia Dolcino²  Elisa Tinazzi²  Claudio Vitali³  Nicoletta Del Papa⁴ 

[1] Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Histology, University of Genova, Via G.B. Marsano 10, 16132 Genova, Italy;Department of Medicine, University of Verona, Piazzale L.A. Scuro 10, 37134 Verona, Italy;Sections of Rheumatology, Villa S. Giuseppe, Como and Casa di Cura di Lecco, 23900 Lecco, Italy;U.O.C. Day Hospital Reumatologia, ASST G. Pini-CTO, 20122 Milan, Italy;

关键词: primary Sjögren’s syndrome;    long non-coding RNA;    signaling pathway;    protein–protein (PPI) network;    gene module;   

DOI  :  10.3390/jcm8091349

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSjS) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting exocrine glands; its pathogenesis is still unclear. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and a comprehensive analysis of lncRNAs expression in pSjS is still lacking. To this aim, the expression of more than 540,000 human transcripts, including those ascribed to more than 50,000 lncRNAs is profiled at the same time, in a cohort of 16 peripheral blood mononuclear cells PBMCs samples (eight pSjS and eight healthy subjects). A complex network analysis is carried out on the global set of molecular interactions among modulated genes and lncRNAs, leading to the identification of reliable lncRNA-miRNA-gene functional interactions. Taking this approach, a few lncRNAs are identified as targeting highly connected genes in the pSjS transcriptome, since they have a major impact on gene modulation in the disease. Such genes are involved in biological processes and molecular pathways crucial in the pathogenesis of pSjS, including immune response, B cell development and function, inflammation, apoptosis, type I and gamma interferon, epithelial cell adhesion and polarization. The identification of deregulated lncRNAs that modulate genes involved in the typical features of the disease provides insight in disease pathogenesis and opens avenues for the design of novel therapeutic strategies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown