Current Issues in Molecular Biology (Jul 2023)

Insight into the lncRNA–mRNA Co-Expression Profile and ceRNA Network in Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Lung Injury

  • Yue Shen,
  • Linjing Gong,
  • Fan Xu,
  • Sijiao Wang,
  • Hanhan Liu,
  • Yali Wang,
  • Lijuan Hu,
  • Lei Zhu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb45070389
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 45, no. 7
pp. 6170 – 6189

Abstract

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Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in acute lung injury (ALI). However, their latent biological function and molecular mechanism have not been fully understood. In the present study, the global expression profiles of lncRNAs and mRNAs between the control and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated groups of human normal lung epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) were determined using high-throughput sequencing. Overall, a total of 433 lncRNAs and 183 mRNAs were differentially expressed. A lncRNA–mRNA co-expression network was established, and then the top 10 lncRNAs were screened using topological methods. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis results showed that the key lncRNAs targeting mRNAs were mostly enriched in the inflammatory-related biological processes. Gene set variation analysis and Pearson’s correlation coefficients confirmed the close correlation for the top 10 lncRNAs with inflammatory responses. A protein–protein interaction network analysis was conducted based on the key lncRNAs targeting mRNAs, where IL-1β, IL-6, and CXCL8 were regarded as the hub genes. A competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) modulatory network was created with five lncRNAs, thirteen microRNAs, and twelve mRNAs. Finally, real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was employed to verify the expression levels of several key lncRNAs in BEAS-2B cells and human serum samples.

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