An integrated analysis of lncRNAs and mRNAs expression profiles in the kidney of mice with lupus nephritis
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are pervasively expressed and have been reported as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets in various diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, there was limited information about lncRNAs expression in kidney tissue with lupus nephritis (LN), a serious complication of SLE. To explore the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms of lncRNAs during pathogenesis of LN, RNA sequencing (RNA_seq) was performed to determine the lncRNAs and mRNAs expression of kidney tissues from LN (MRL/lpr) and control mouse. We identified 12, 979 novel lncRNAs in mouse. The expression profiles of both mRNA and lncRNA were significant different between LN and control mouse. In particular, both upregulated lncRNAs and mRNAs were more than downregulated ones in kidney tissue of LN mouse. However, GO analysis showed that more downregulated genes were enriched in immune and inflammatory response associated pathway. KEGG analysis showed that both downregulated and upregulated genes were enriched in pathway including SLE pathway, about half of these SLE-assocaited genes were inflammatory factors. Moreover, we found that 2, 181 DElncRNAs potential targeted and regulated expresison of 778 mRNA in kidney tissues of LN. The results showed that 11 DE-LncRNAs targeted and co-expressed with six immune and SLE-assocaited genes. qPCR confirmed that lncRNA Gm20513 would positively regualte the expression of SLE-associated gene H2-Aa. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that lncRNA will influence the progression of LN and will provide some cues for further study of lncRNAs in LN. LncRNA-mRNA regulation network may have important value in LN diagnosis and therapy. Overall design: RNA sequencing (RNA_seq) was performed to determine the lncRNAs and mRNAs expression of kidney tissues from LN (MRL/lpr) and control mouse