title: LncRNAs expression in adjuvant-induced arthritis rats reveals the potential role of LncRNAs contributing to rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) are an important class of widespread molecules involved in diverse biological functions, which are exceptionally expressed in numerous types of diseases. Currently, limited study on LncRNA in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is available. In this study, we aimed to identify the specifically expressed LncRNA that are relevant to adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) in rats, and to explore the possible molecular mechanisms of RA pathogenesis.
  
  
  METHODS
  To identify LncRNAs specifically expressed in rheumatoid arthritis, the expression of LncRNAs in synoviums of rats from the model group (n=3) was compared with that in the control group (n=3) using Arraystar Rat LncRNA/mRNA microarray and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Up to 260 LncRNAs were found to be differentially expressed (≥1.5-fold-change) in the synoviums between AA model and the normal rats (170 up-regulated and 90 down-regulated LncRNAs in AA rats compared with normal rats). Coding-non-coding gene co-expression networks (CNC network) were drawn based on the correlation analysis between the differentially expressed LncRNAs and mRNAs. Six LncRNAs, XR_008357, U75927, MRAK046251, XR_006457, DQ266363 and MRAK003448, were selected to analyze the relationship between LncRNAs and RA via the CNC network and GO analysis. Real-time PCR result confirmed that the six LncRNAs were specifically expressed in the AA rats.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results revealed that clusters of LncRNAs were uniquely expressed in AA rats compared with controls, which manifests that these differentially expressed LncRNAs in AA rats might play a vital role in RA development. Up-regulation or down-regulation of the six LncRNAs might contribute to the molecular mechanism underlying RA. To sum up, our study provides potential targets for treatment of RA and novel profound understanding of the pathogenesis of RA.
authors: College of Basic Medicine, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, China; Department of Pharmacy, The first affiliated hospital of Anhui university of Chinese medicine, 117 Meishan Road, Hefei, China. Electronic address: 657861261@qq.com.
authors: Hui
authors: H
authors: Jiang
authors: Department of Pharmacy, The first affiliated hospital of Anhui university of Chinese medicine, 117 Meishan Road, Hefei, China. Electronic address: 1036951872@qq.com.
authors: Xiu-Juan
authors: XJ
authors: Qin
authors: College of Basic Medicine, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, China. Electronic address: 2727208919@qq.com.
authors: Wei-Ping
authors: WP
authors: Li
authors: Department of Integrative Physiology and Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of North Texas Health Sciences Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA. Electronic address: 504219917@qq.com.
authors: Rong
authors: R
authors: Ma
authors: Department of Pharmacy, The first affiliated hospital of Anhui university of Chinese medicine, 117 Meishan Road, Hefei, China. Electronic address: 136931653@qq.com.
authors: Ting
authors: T
authors: Wang
authors: College of Basic Medicine, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, China. Electronic address: 827984841@qq.com.
authors: Zhu-Qing
authors: ZQ
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding
keywords: LncRNAs; Microarray; Molecular mechanism; Rheumatoid arthritis; mRNA