Expression profiles of long noncoding RNAs in retinopathy of prematurity

The role of long noncoding RNAs in ocular angiogenesis and vascular oculopathy

BACKGROUND

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are RNA transcripts over 200 nucleotides in length that do not code for proteins. Initially considered a genomic mystery, an increasing number of lncRNAs have been shown to have vital roles in physiological and pathological conditions by regulating gene expression through diverse mechanisms depending on their subcellular localization. Dysregulated angiogenesis is responsible for various vascular oculopathies, including diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity, age-related macular degeneration, and corneal neovascularization. While anti-VEGF treatment is available, it is not curative, and long-term outcomes are suboptimal, and some patients are unresponsive. To better understand these diseases, researchers have investigated the role of lncRNAs in regulating angiogenesis and models of vascular oculopathies. This review summarizes recent research on lncRNAs in ocular angiogenesis, including the pro-angiogenic lncRNAs ANRIL, HOTAIR, HOTTIP, H19, IPW, MALAT1, MIAT, NEAT1, and TUG1, the anti-angiogenic lncRNAs MEG3 and PKNY, and the human/primate specific lncRNAs lncEGFL7OS, discussing their functions and mechanisms of action in vascular oculopathies.

Expression and role of P-element-induced wimpy testis-interacting RNA in diabetic-retinopathy in mice

BACKGROUND

As one of the major microvascular complications of diabetes, diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness in the working age population. Because the extremely complex pathogenesis of DR has not been fully clarified, the occurrence and development of DR is closely related to tissue ischemia and hypoxia and neovascularization The formation of retinal neovascularization (RNV) has great harm to the visual acuity of patients.

AIM

To investigate the expression of P-element-induced wimpy testis-interacting RNA (piRNA) in proliferative DR mice and select piRNA related to RNV.

METHODS

One hundred healthy C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into a normal group as control group (CG) and proliferative DR (PDR) group as experimental group (EG), with 50 mice in each group. Samples were collected from both groups at the same time, and the lesions of mice were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining and retinal blood vessel staining. The retinal tissues were collected for second-generation high-throughput sequencing, and the differentially expressed piRNA between the CG and EG was detected, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was conducted for verification. The differentially obtained piRNA target genes and expression profiles were enrichment analysis based on gene annotation (Gene Ontology) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes.

RESULTS

In the CG there was no perfusion area, neovascularization and endothelial nucleus broke through the inner boundary membrane of retinap. In the EG, there were a lot of nonperfused areas, new blood vessels and endothelial nuclei breaking through the inner boundary membrane of the retina. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of vascular endothelial nuclei breaking through the inner retinal membrane between the two groups. High-throughput sequencing analysis showed that compared with the CG, a total of 79 piRNAs were differentially expressed in EG, among which 43 piRNAs were up-regulated and 36 piRNAs were down-regulated. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the differentially expressed piRNAs were mainly concentrated in the signaling pathways of angiogenesis and cell proliferation. Ten piRNAs were selected for PCR, and the results showed that the expression of piR-MMU-40373735, piR-MMU-61121420, piR-MMU-55687822, piR-MMU-1373887 were high, and the expression of piR-MMU-7401535, piR-MMU-4773779, piR-MMU-1304999, and piR-MMU-5160126 were low, which were consistent with the sequencing results.

CONCLUSION

In the EG, the abnormal expression of piRNA is involved in the pathway of angiogenesis and cell proliferation, suggesting that piRNAs have some regulatory function in proliferative diabetic-retinopathy.

Long Non-Coding RNA (lncRNA) Roles in Cell Biology, Neurodevelopment and Neurological Disorders

Development is a complex process regulated both by genetic and epigenetic and environmental clues. Recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as key regulators of gene expression in several tissues including the brain. Altered expression of lncRNAs has been linked to several neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental and mental disorders. The identification and characterization of lncRNAs that are deregulated or mutated in neurodevelopmental and mental health diseases are fundamental to understanding the complex transcriptional processes in brain function. Crucially, lncRNAs can be exploited as a novel target for treating neurological disorders. In our review, we first summarize the recent advances in our understanding of lncRNA functions in the context of cell biology and then discussing their association with selected neuronal development and neurological disorders.

Effects of long non-coding RNA myocardial infarction-associated transcript on retinal neovascularization in a newborn mouse model of oxygen-induced retinopathy

Whether long non-coding RNA myocardial infarction-associated transcript is involved in oxygen-induced retinopathy remains poorly understood. To validate this hypothesis, we established a newborn mouse model of oxygen-induced retinopathy by feeding in an oxygen concentration of 75 ± 2% from postnatal day 8 to postnatal day 12, followed by in normal air. On postnatal day 11, the mice were injected with the myocardial infarction-associated transcript siRNA plasmid via the vitreous cavity to knockdown long non-coding RNA myocardial infarction-associated transcript. Myocardial infarction-associated transcript siRNA transcription significantly inhibited myocardial infarction-associated transcript mRNA expression, reduced the phosphatidylinosital-3-kinase, phosphorylated Akt and vascular endothelial growth factor immunopositivities, protein and mRNA expression, and alleviated the pathological damage to the retina of oxygen-induced retinopathy mouse models. These findings suggest that myocardial infarction-associated transcript is likely involved in the retinal neovascularization in retinopathy of prematurity and that inhibition of myocardial infarction-associated transcript can downregulate phosphatidylinosital-3-kinase, phosphorylated Akt and vascular endothelial growth factor expression levels and inhibit neovascularization. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, China (approval No. 2016PS074K) on February 25, 2016.