1
|
Chaudhary U, Banerjee S. Decoding the Non-coding: Tools and Databases Unveiling the Hidden World of "Junk" RNAs for Innovative Therapeutic Exploration. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci 2024; 7:1901-1915. [PMID: 39022352 PMCID: PMC11249652 DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.3c00388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Non-coding RNAs are pivotal regulators of gene and protein expression, exerting crucial influences on diverse biological processes. Their dysregulation is frequently implicated in the onset and progression of diseases, notably cancer. A profound comprehension of the intricate mechanisms governing ncRNAs is imperative for devising innovative therapeutic interventions against these debilitating conditions. Significantly, nearly 80% of our genome comprises ncRNAs, underscoring their centrality in cellular processes. The elucidation of ncRNA functions is pivotal for grasping the complexities of gene regulation and its implications for human health. Modern genome sequencing techniques yield vast datasets, stored in specialized databases. To harness this wealth of information and to understand the crosstalk of non-coding RNAs, knowledge of available databases is required, and many new sophisticated computational tools have emerged. These tools play a pivotal role in the identification, prediction, and annotation of ncRNAs, thereby facilitating their experimental validation. This Review succinctly outlines the current understanding of ncRNAs, emphasizing their involvement in disease development. It also highlights the databases and tools instrumental in classifying, annotating, and evaluating ncRNAs. By extracting meaningful biological insights from seemingly "junk" data, these tools empower scientists to unravel the intricate roles of ncRNAs in shaping human health.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Uma Chaudhary
- Department of Biotechnology,
School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore
Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, Tamil Nadu 632014, India
| | - Satarupa Banerjee
- Department of Biotechnology,
School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore
Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, Tamil Nadu 632014, India
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ma Y, Harris J, Li P, Jiang C, Sun H, Cao H. An Integrative Transcriptome Subtraction Strategy to Identify Human lncRNAs That Specifically Play a Role in Activation of Human Hepatic Stellate Cells. Noncoding RNA 2024; 10:34. [PMID: 38921831 PMCID: PMC11206700 DOI: 10.3390/ncrna10030034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2024] [Revised: 05/31/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Fibrotic liver features excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM), primarily produced from "activated" hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). While targeting human HSCs (hHSCs) in fibrosis therapeutics shows promise, the overall understanding of hHSC activation remains limited, in part because it is very challenging to define the role of human long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in hHSC activation. To address this challenge, we identified another cell type that acts via a diverse gene network to promote fibrogenesis. Then, we identified the lncRNAs that were differentially regulated in activated hHSCs and the other profibrotic cell. Next, we conducted concurrent analysis to identify those lncRNAs that were specifically involved in fibrogenesis. We tested and confirmed that transdifferentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) represents such a process. By overlapping TGFβ-regulated lncRNAs in multiple sets of hHSCs and VSMCs, we identified a highly selected list of lncRNA candidates that could specifically play a role in hHSC activation. We experimentally characterized one human lncRNA, named CARMN, which was significantly regulated by TGFβ in all conditions above. CARMN knockdown significantly reduced the expression levels of a panel of marker genes for hHSC activation, as well as the levels of ECM deposition and hHSC migration. Conversely, gain of function of CARMN using CRISPR activation (CRISPR-a) yielded the completely opposite effects. Taken together, our work addresses a bottleneck in identifying human lncRNAs that specifically play a role in hHSC activation and provides a framework to effectively select human lncRNAs with significant pathophysiological role.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Haiming Cao
- Cardiovascular Branch, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Distefano R, Ilieva M, Madsen JH, Rennie S, Uchida S. DoxoDB: A Database for the Expression Analysis of Doxorubicin-Induced lncRNA Genes. Noncoding RNA 2023; 9:39. [PMID: 37489459 PMCID: PMC10366827 DOI: 10.3390/ncrna9040039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 07/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer and cardiovascular disease are the leading causes of death worldwide. Recent evidence suggests that these two life-threatening diseases share several features in disease progression, such as angiogenesis, fibrosis, and immune responses. This has led to the emergence of a new field called cardio-oncology. Doxorubicin is a chemotherapy drug widely used to treat cancer, such as bladder and breast cancer. However, this drug causes serious side effects, including acute ventricular dysfunction, cardiomyopathy, and heart failure. Based on this evidence, we hypothesize that comparing the expression profiles of cells and tissues treated with doxorubicin may yield new insights into the adverse effects of the drug on cellular activities. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed published RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data from doxorubicin-treated cells to identify commonly differentially expressed genes, including long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as they are known to be dysregulated in diseased tissues and cells. From our systematic analysis, we identified several doxorubicin-induced genes. To confirm these findings, we treated human cardiac fibroblasts with doxorubicin to record expression changes in the selected doxorubicin-induced genes and performed a loss-of-function experiment of the lncRNA MAP3K4-AS1. To further disseminate the analyzed data, we built the web database DoxoDB.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Distefano
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Mirolyuba Ilieva
- Center for RNA Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, DK-2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark
| | - Jens Hedelund Madsen
- Center for RNA Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, DK-2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark
| | - Sarah Rennie
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Shizuka Uchida
- Center for RNA Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, DK-2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Distefano R, Ilieva M, Madsen JH, Ishii H, Aikawa M, Rennie S, Uchida S. T2DB: A Web Database for Long Non-Coding RNA Genes in Type II Diabetes. Noncoding RNA 2023; 9:30. [PMID: 37218990 PMCID: PMC10204529 DOI: 10.3390/ncrna9030030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Revised: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Type II diabetes (T2D) is a growing health problem worldwide due to increased levels of obesity and can lead to other life-threatening diseases, such as cardiovascular and kidney diseases. As the number of individuals diagnosed with T2D rises, there is an urgent need to understand the pathogenesis of the disease in order to prevent further harm to the body caused by elevated blood glucose levels. Recent advances in long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) research may provide insights into the pathogenesis of T2D. Although lncRNAs can be readily detected in RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data, most published datasets of T2D patients compared to healthy donors focus only on protein-coding genes, leaving lncRNAs to be undiscovered and understudied. To address this knowledge gap, we performed a secondary analysis of published RNA-seq data of T2D patients and of patients with related health complications to systematically analyze the expression changes of lncRNA genes in relation to the protein-coding genes. Since immune cells play important roles in T2D, we conducted loss-of-function experiments to provide functional data on the T2D-related lncRNA USP30-AS1, using an in vitro model of pro-inflammatory macrophage activation. To facilitate lncRNA research in T2D, we developed a web application, T2DB, to provide a one-stop-shop for expression profiling of protein-coding and lncRNA genes in T2D patients compared to healthy donors or subjects without T2D.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Distefano
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark;
| | - Mirolyuba Ilieva
- Center for RNA Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, DK-2450 Copenhagen, Denmark; (M.I.); (J.H.M.)
| | - Jens Hedelund Madsen
- Center for RNA Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, DK-2450 Copenhagen, Denmark; (M.I.); (J.H.M.)
| | - Hideshi Ishii
- Center of Medical Innovation and Translational Research, Department of Medical Data Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan;
| | - Masanori Aikawa
- Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences, Cardiovascular Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA;
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Center for Excellence in Vascular Biology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Sarah Rennie
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark;
| | - Shizuka Uchida
- Center for RNA Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, DK-2450 Copenhagen, Denmark; (M.I.); (J.H.M.)
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Cao S, Wang X, Liu X, Li J, Duan L, Gao Z, Lun S, Zhu Y, Yang H, Zhang H, Zhou F. Integrative Analysis of Angiogenesis-Related Long Non-Coding RNA and Identification of a Six-DEARlncRNA Signature Associated with Prognosis and Therapeutic Response in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14174195. [PMID: 36077731 PMCID: PMC9454540 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14174195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a lethal gastrointestinal malignancy worldwide. We aimed to identify an angiogenesis-related lncRNAs (ARlncRNAs) signature that could predict the prognosis in ESCC. The GSE53624 and GSE53622 datasets were derived from the GEO database. The differently expressed ARlncRNAs (DEARlncRNAs) were retrieved by the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), differential expression analysis, and correlation analysis. Optimal lncRNA biomarkers were screened from the training set and the six-DEARlncRNA signature comprising AP000696.2, LINC01711, RP11-70C1.3, AP000487.5, AC011997.1, and RP11-225N10.1 could separate patients into high- and low-risk groups with markedly different survival. The validation of the reliability of the risk model was performed by the Kaplan-Meier test, ROC curves, and risk curves in the test set and validation set. Predictive independence analysis indicated that risk score is an independent prognostic biomarker for predicting the prognosis of ESCC patients. Subsequently, a ceRNA regulatory network and functional enrichment analysis were performed. The IC50 test revealed that patients in the high-risk group were resistant to Gefitinib and Lapatinib. Finally, the six DEARlncRNAs were detected by qRT-PCR. In conclusion, we demonstrated a novel ARlncRNA signature as an independent prognostic factor to distinguish the risk of ESCC patients and benefit the personalized clinical applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shasha Cao
- Henan Medical Key Laboratory, Precise Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Anyang Tumor Hospital, The Affiliated Anyang Tumor Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Anyang 455000, China
| | - Xiaomin Wang
- Henan Medical Key Laboratory, Precise Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Anyang Tumor Hospital, The Affiliated Anyang Tumor Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Anyang 455000, China
| | - Xiaohui Liu
- Henan Medical Key Laboratory, Precise Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Anyang Tumor Hospital, The Affiliated Anyang Tumor Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Anyang 455000, China
| | - Junkuo Li
- Henan Medical Key Laboratory, Precise Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Anyang Tumor Hospital, The Affiliated Anyang Tumor Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Anyang 455000, China
| | - Lijuan Duan
- Henan Medical Key Laboratory, Precise Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Anyang Tumor Hospital, The Affiliated Anyang Tumor Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Anyang 455000, China
| | - Zhaowei Gao
- Henan Medical Key Laboratory, Precise Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Anyang Tumor Hospital, The Affiliated Anyang Tumor Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Anyang 455000, China
| | - Shumin Lun
- Henan Medical Key Laboratory, Precise Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Anyang Tumor Hospital, The Affiliated Anyang Tumor Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Anyang 455000, China
| | - Yanju Zhu
- Henan Medical Key Laboratory, Precise Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Anyang Tumor Hospital, The Affiliated Anyang Tumor Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Anyang 455000, China
| | - Haijun Yang
- Henan Medical Key Laboratory, Precise Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Anyang Tumor Hospital, The Affiliated Anyang Tumor Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Anyang 455000, China
| | - Hao Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510630, China
- Correspondence: (H.Z.); (F.Z.)
| | - Fuyou Zhou
- Henan Medical Key Laboratory, Precise Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Anyang Tumor Hospital, The Affiliated Anyang Tumor Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Anyang 455000, China
- Correspondence: (H.Z.); (F.Z.)
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Ilieva M, Uchida S. Long Non-Coding RNAs in Cardiac and Pulmonary Fibroblasts and Fibrosis. Noncoding RNA 2022; 8:ncrna8040053. [PMID: 35893236 PMCID: PMC9326574 DOI: 10.3390/ncrna8040053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The cardiopulmonary system delivers oxygen throughout the body via blood circulation. It is an essential part of the body to sustain the lives of organisms. The integral parts of the cardiopulmonary system—the heart and lungs—are constantly exposed to damaging agents (e.g., dust, viruses), and can be greatly affected by injuries caused by dysfunction in tissues (e.g., myocardial infarction). When damaged, mesenchymal cells, such as fibroblasts, are activated to become myofibroblasts to initiate fibrosis as part of a regenerative mechanism. In diseased states, the excess accumulation of extracellular matrices secreted by myofibroblasts results in further dysfunction in the damaged organs. These fibrotic tissues cannot easily be removed. Thus, there is a growing interest in understanding the fibrotic process, as well as finding biomolecules that can be targets for slowing down or potentially stopping fibrosis. Among these biomolecules, the interest in studying long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs; any non-protein-coding RNAs longer than 200 nucleotides) has intensified in recent years. In this commentary, we summarize the current status of lncRNA research in the cardiopulmonary system by focusing on cardiac and pulmonary fibrosis.
Collapse
|
7
|
Abstract
Fibroblasts play an important role in the pathogenic mechanisms of several socially significant diseases, including pulmonary and cardiovascular fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, systemic sclerosis, progressive kidney disease. The alterations of the epitranscriptome, including more than 170 distinct post-transcriptional RNA modifications or editing events, justified their investigation as an important modulator of fibrosis. Recent development of high-throughput methods allows the identification of RNA modification sites and their mechanistic aspect in the fibrosis development. The most common RNA modification is methylation of N6-adenosine deposited by the m6A methyltransferase complex (METTL3/14/16, WTAP, KIAA1429, and RBM15/15B), erased by demethylases (FTO and ALKBH5), and recognized by binding proteins (e.g., YTHDF1/2/3, YTHDC1/2, IGF2BP1/2/3, etc.). Adenosine to inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing is another abundant editing event converting adenosine to inosine in double-stranded RNA regions through the action of the adenosine deaminase (ADAR) proteins. Last, but not least, 5-methylcytosine (m5C) regulates the stability and translation of mRNAs. All those RNA modifications have been observed in mRNA as well as the non-coding regions of pre-mRNA and ncRNAs, and demonstrate to be involved in fibrosis in different cellular and animal models. This Mini-Review focuses on the latest research on epitranscriptomic marks related to fibroblast biology and fibrosis as well as elucidates the future research directions in this context.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mirolyuba Ilieva
- Center for RNA Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Copenhagen SV, Denmark
| | - Shizuka Uchida
- Center for RNA Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Copenhagen SV, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|