title: Developmental programming of long non-coding RNAs during postnatal liver maturation in mice.
abstract: The liver is a vital organ with critical functions in metabolism, protein synthesis, and immune defense. Most of the liver functions are not mature at birth and many changes happen during postnatal liver development. However, it is unclear what changes occur in liver after birth, at what developmental stages they occur, and how the developmental processes are regulated. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in organ development and cell differentiation. Here, we analyzed the transcriptome of lncRNAs in mouse liver from perinatal (day -2) to adult (day 60) by RNA-Sequencing, with an attempt to understand the role of lncRNAs in liver maturation. We found around 15,000 genes expressed, including about 2,000 lncRNAs. Most lncRNAs were expressed at a lower level than coding RNAs. Both coding RNAs and lncRNAs displayed three major ontogenic patterns: enriched at neonatal, adolescent, or adult stages. Neighboring coding and non-coding RNAs showed the trend to exhibit highly correlated ontogenic expression patterns. Gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed that some lncRNAs enriched at neonatal ages have their neighbor protein coding genes also enriched at neonatal ages and associated with cell proliferation, immune activation related processes, tissue organization pathways, and hematopoiesis; other lncRNAs enriched at adolescent ages have their neighbor protein coding genes associated with different metabolic processes. These data reveal significant functional transition during postnatal liver development and imply the potential importance of lncRNAs in liver maturation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ariel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paulson
authors.affiliation: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Piekos
authors.affiliation: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Linheng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Xiao-Bo
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D047108:Embryonic Development; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008099:Liver / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding