Genome-wide identification and analysis of the eQTL lncRNAs in multiple sclerosis based on RNA-seq data

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 1023-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhijie Han ◽  
Weiwei Xue ◽  
Lin Tao ◽  
Yan Lou ◽  
Yunqing Qiu ◽  
...  

Abstract The pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is significantly regulated by long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), the expression of which is substantially influenced by a number of MS-associated risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). It is thus hypothesized that the dysregulation of lncRNA induced by genomic variants may be one of the key molecular mechanisms for the pathology of MS. However, due to the lack of sufficient data on lncRNA expression and SNP genotypes of the same MS patients, such molecular mechanisms underlying the pathology of MS remain elusive. In this study, a bioinformatics strategy was applied to obtain lncRNA expression and SNP genotype data simultaneously from 142 samples (51 MS patients and 91 controls) based on RNA-seq data, and an expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis was conducted. In total, 2383 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified as specifically expressing in brain-related tissues, and 517 of them were affected by SNPs. Then, the functional characterization, secondary structure changes and tissue and disease specificity of the cis-eQTL SNPs and lncRNA were assessed. The cis-eQTL SNPs were substantially and specifically enriched in neurological disease and intergenic region, and the secondary structure was altered in 17.6% of all lncRNAs in MS. Finally, the weighted gene coexpression network and gene set enrichment analyses were used to investigate how the influence of SNPs on lncRNAs contributed to the pathogenesis of MS. As a result, the regulation of lncRNAs by SNPs was found to mainly influence the antigen processing/presentation and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathway in MS. These results revealed the effectiveness of the strategy proposed in this study and give insight into the mechanism (SNP-mediated modulation of lncRNAs) underlying the pathology of MS.

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 2710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anh Truong ◽  
Deivendran Rengaraj ◽  
Yeojin Hong ◽  
Ha Tran ◽  
Hoang Dang ◽  
...  

The activating leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptors (LILRAs) play an important role in innate immunity. However, most of the LILRA members have not been characterized in avian species including chickens. The present study is the first attempt at cloning, structural analysis and functional characterization of two LILRAs (LILRA2 and LILRA6) in chickens. Multiple sequence alignments and construction of a phylogenetic tree of chicken LILRA2 and LILRA6 with mammalian proteins revealed high conservation between chicken LILRA2 and LILRA6 and a close relationship between the chicken and mammalian proteins. The mRNA expression of LILRA2 and LILRA6 was high in chicken HD11 macrophages and the small intestine compared to that in several other tissues and cells tested. To examine the function of LILRA2 and LILRA6 in chicken immunity, LILRA2 and LILRA6 were transfected into HD11 cells. Our findings indicated that LILRA2 and LILRA6 are associated with the phosphorylation of Src kinases and SHP2, which play a regulatory role in immune functions. Moreover, LILRA6 associated with and activated MHC class I, β2-microglobulin and induced the expression of transporters associated with antigen processing but LILRA2 did not. Furthermore, both LILRA2 and LILRA6 activated JAK-STAT, NF-κB, PI3K/AKT and ERK1/2 MAPK signaling pathways and induced Th1-, Th2- and Th17-type cytokines and Toll-like receptors. Collectively, this study indicates that LILRA2 and LILRA6 are essential for macrophage-mediated immune responses and they have the potential to complement the innate and adaptive immune system against pathogens.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Greco ◽  
A Made' ◽  
M Longo ◽  
R Tikhomirov ◽  
S Castelvecchio ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are an emerging class of noncoding RNAs stemming from the splicing and circularization of pre-mRNAs exons. CircRNAs can regulate transcription and splicing, sequester microRNAs acting as “sponge” and inducing the respective targets, and bind to RNA binding proteins. Recently, they have been found deregulated in dilated cardiomyopathies (DCM), one of the cardiovascular diseases with the worst rate of morbidity and mortality, and whose molecular mechanisms are only partially known. Purpose Therein, we will evaluate in ischemic DCM patients the modulation of 17 circRNAs, 14 out of them obtained from literature data on DCM ischemic or not, while the other 3 were circRNAs not characterized in the heart previously. The study aims to identify circRNAs candidates for further functional characterization in DCM. In addition, as differential expression (DE) analysis is not easily performed for circRNAs in RNA-seq datasets, the validated circRNAs will be used to set up the most specific and sensitive bioinformatics pipeline for circRNA-DE analysis. Methods We designed divergent and convergent specific primers for 17 circRNAs and their host gene, respectively, and their amplification efficiency was measured by RT-qPCR. Transcripts expression was measured in left ventricle biopsies of 12 patients affected by non end-stage ischemic HF and of 12 matched controls. Results We identified cPVT1, cANKRD17, cBPTF as DE, and validated the modulation of 5 out of the 14 DCM-related circRNAs (cHIPK3, cALPK2, cPCMTD1, cNEBL, cSLC8A1), while cPDRM5, cTTN1 showed opposite modulation, which may be due to the specific disease condition. All of them were modulated differently from the respective host gene. CircRNA/miRNA interactions were predicted using Starbase 3.0. Next, mRNAs-targets of the identified miRNAs were predicted by mirDIP 4.1 and intersected with gene expression datasets of the same patients, previously obtained by microarray analysis. We found that cBPTF and cANKRD17 might sponge 12 and 2 miRNAs, respectively. Enrichment analysis of the relevant targets identified several important pathways implicated in DCM, such as MAPK, FoxO, EGFR, VEGF and Insulin/IGF pathways. In addition, deep RNA-Seq analysis that is currently ongoing and the validated circRNAs will be used to optimize the bioinformatics pipeline for circRNA DE analysis. Conclusions We identified a subset of circRNAs deregulated in ischemic HF potentially implicated in HF pathogenesis.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Tian ◽  
Jiao Zhao ◽  
Ju Huang ◽  
Haiying Zhang ◽  
Fushun Ni ◽  
...  

Abstract Background:Tumor endothelial cells (TECs) play an indispensable role in tumor growth and metastasis. Compared with normal endothelial cells (NECs), TECs exhibit unique phenotypic and functional heterogeneity in terms of metabolism, genetics, and transcriptomics. It is not only the key to coordinate tumor angiogenesis, but also an important factor of immune regulation in the tumor microenvironment. In recent years, the role of TECs in tumor metabolism and invasion has been continuously reported. However, the research on the mechanism behind the complex functions of TECs is still at the basic stage. We use Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) three-generation full-length transcriptome sequencing to detect all genetic structural changes in the transcriptome of mouse TECs 2H-11 and mouse NECs SVEC4-10.Results: In Tumor endothelial cells 2H-11,1847genes are up-regulated and 1202 genes are down-regulated. According to the Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), we found that different functional trends related to metabolic processes, developmental processes, localization, immune system processes, and locomotion are the main reasons for the differences. DEGs are mainly enriched in signal pathways related to cancer, immunity and metabolism, involving Pathways in cancer,Antigen processing and presentation , Proteoglycans in cancer, Focal adhesion, MAPK signaling pathway ,Protein digestion and absorption,ECM-receptor interaction,PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and Glutathione metabolism. We also obtained the structural variation of transcripts such as alternative splicing, gene fusion, and alternative polyadenylation and accurately quantified the expression of the transcript. Some of our results have been confirmed in other documents. But other data have not been reported yet, which is the focus of our future exploration.Conclusion: We try to use transcriptomics and bioinformatics methods to characterize tumor endothelial cell-related genes and signaling pathways.It could help better understand the molecular mechanisms of tumor endothelial cells involved in tumorigenesis and development. DEGs in key pathways may be potential diagnostic markers or therapeutic targets of TECs. Our data also provide useful genetic resources for improving the genome and transcriptome annotations of TECs and NECs.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Odhams ◽  
Andrea Cortini ◽  
Lingyan Chen ◽  
Amy L. Roberts ◽  
Ana Vinuela ◽  
...  

AbstractStudies attempting to functionally interpret complex-disease susceptibility loci by GWAS and eQTL integration have predominantly employed microarrays to quantify gene-expression. RNA-Seq has the potential to discover a more comprehensive set of eQTLs and illuminate the underlying molecular consequence. We examine the functional outcome of 39 variants associated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) through integration of GWAS and eQTL data from the TwinsUK microarray and RNA-Seq cohort in lymphoblastoid cell lines. We use conditional analysis and a Bayesian colocalisation method to provide evidence of a shared causal-variant, then compare the ability of each quantification type to detect disease relevant eQTLs and eGenes. We discovered a greater frequency of candidate-causal eQTLs using RNA-Seq, and identified novel SLE susceptibility genes that were concealed using microarrays (e.g. NADSYN1, SKP1, and TCF7). Many of these eQTLs were found to influence the expression of several genes, suggesting risk haplotypes may harbour multiple functional effects. We pinpointed eQTLs modulating expression of four non-coding RNAs; three of which were replicated in whole-blood. Novel SLE associated splicing events were identified in the T-reg restricted transcription factor, IKZF2, the autophagy-related gene WDFY4, and the redox coenzyme NADSYN1, through asQTL mapping using the Geuvadis cohort. We have significantly increased our understanding of the genetic control of gene-expression in SLE by maximising the leverage of RNA-Seq and performing integrative GWAS-eQTL analysis against gene, exon, and splice-junction quantifications. In doing so, we have identified novel SLE candidate genes and specific molecular mechanisms that will serve as the basis for targeted follow-up studies.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fagny ◽  
J.N. Paulson ◽  
M.L. Kuijjer ◽  
A.R. Sonawane ◽  
C.-Y. Chen ◽  
...  

SummaryExpression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis associates genotype with gene expression, but most eQTL studies only include cis-acting variants and generally examine a single tissue. We used data from 13 tissues obtained by the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project v6.0 and, in each tissue, identified both cis- and trans-eQTLs. For each tissue, we represented significant associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and genes as edges in a bipartite network. These networks are organized into dense, highly modular communities often representing coherent biological processes. Global network hubs are enriched in distal gene regulatory regions such as enhancers, but are devoid of disease-associated SNPs from genome wide association studies. In contrast, local, community-specific network hubs (core SNPs) are preferentially located in regulatory regions such as promoters and enhancers and highly enriched for trait and disease associations. These results provide help explain how many weak-effect SNPs might together influence cellular function and phenotype.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0247160
Author(s):  
Bonien Chen ◽  
Tah-Wei Chu ◽  
Kuohsun Chiu ◽  
Ming-Chang Hong ◽  
Tsung-Meng Wu ◽  
...  

Treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) raises the hatching rate through the development and diapause termination of Artemia cysts. To comprehend the upstream genetic regulation of diapause termination activated by exterior H2O2 elements, an Illumina RNA-seq analysis was performed to recognize and assess comparative transcript amounts to explore the genetic regulation of H2O2 in starting the diapause termination of cysts in Artemia salina. We examined three groupings treated with no H2O2 (control), 180 μM H2O2 (low) and 1800 μM H2O2 (high). The results showed a total of 114,057 unigenes were identified, 41.22% of which were functionally annotated in at least one particular database. When compared to control group, 34 and 98 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were upregulated in 180 μM and 1800 μM H2O2 treatments, respectively. On the other hand, 162 and 30 DEGs were downregulated in the 180 μM and 1800 μM H2O2 treatments, respectively. Cluster analysis of DEGs demonstrated significant patterns among these types of 3 groups. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed the DEGs involved in the regulation of blood coagulation (GO: 0030193; GO: 0050818), regulation of wound healing (GO:0061041), regulation of hemostasis (GO: 1900046), antigen processing and presentation (KO04612), the Hippo signaling pathway (KO04391), as well as the MAPK signaling pathway (KO04010). This research helped to define the diapause-related transcriptomes of Artemia cysts using RNA-seq technology, which might fill up a gap in the prevailing body of knowledge.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Jiaqing Hu ◽  
Dandan Yang ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Chuanhao Li ◽  
Yandong Wang ◽  
...  

There is little genomic information regarding gene expression differences at the whole blood transcriptome level of different pig breeds at the neonatal stage. To solve this, we characterized differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the whole blood of Dapulian (DPL) and Landrace piglets using RNA-seq (RNA-sequencing) technology. In this study, 83 DEGs were identified between the two breeds. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses identified immune response and metabolism as the most commonly enriched terms and pathways in the DEGs. Genes related to immunity and lipid metabolism were more highly expressed in the DPL piglets, while genes related to body growth were more highly expressed in the Landrace piglets. Additionally, the DPL piglets had twofold more single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and alternative splicing (AS) than the Landrace piglets. These results expand our knowledge of the genes transcribed in the piglet whole blood of two breeds and provide a basis for future research of the molecular mechanisms underlying the piglet differences.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niek de Klein ◽  
Ellen A. Tsai ◽  
Martijn Vochteloo ◽  
Denis Baird ◽  
Yunfeng Huang ◽  
...  

Gaining insight into the downstream consequences of non-coding variants is an essential step towards the identification of therapeutic targets from genome-wide association study (GWAS) findings. Here we have harmonized and integrated 8,727 RNA-seq samples with accompanying genotype data from multiple brain-regions from 14 datasets. This sample size enabled us to perform both cis- and trans-expression quantitative locus (eQTL) mapping. Upon comparing the brain cortex cis-eQTLs (for 12,307 unique genes at FDR<0.05) with a large blood cis-eQTL analysis (n=31,684 samples), we observed that brain eQTLs are more tissue specific than previously assumed. We inferred the brain cell type for 1,515 cis-eQTLs by using cell type proportion information. We conducted Mendelian Randomization on 31 brain-related traits using cis-eQTLs as instruments and found 159 significant findings that also passed colocalization. Furthermore, two multiple sclerosis (MS) findings had cell type specific signals, a neuron-specific cis-eQTL for CYP24A1 and a macrophage specific cis-eQTL for CLECL1. To further interpret GWAS hits, we performed trans-eQTL analysis. We identified 2,589 trans-eQTLs (at FDR<0.05) for 373 unique SNPs, affecting 1,263 unique genes, and 21 replicated significantly using single-nucleus RNA-seq data from excitatory neurons. We also generated a brain-specific gene-coregulation network that we used to predict which genes have brain-specific functions, and to perform a novel network analysis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease (PD) GWAS data. This resulted in the identification of distinct sets of genes that show significantly enriched co-regulation with genes inside the associated GWAS loci, and which might reflect drivers of these diseases.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiqiang Han ◽  
Dongming Liu ◽  
Lu Chen ◽  
Yuchao He ◽  
Xiangdong Tian ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Some studies have reported that the activated ribosomes are positively associated with malignant tumors, especially in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The RNA-binding protein PNO1, as a critical ribosome has been rarely reported in human tumors. Thus, the roles of PNO1 in HCC should be explored. Methods We collected 150 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples and 8 fresh samples to explore the expression and prognosis of PNO1 in HCC by immunohistochemistry, Western Blotting and RT-PCR. Public databases (TCGA and GEO) were used to verify the expression and prognosis. The functions of PNO1 in HCC was verified by in vitro and in vivo experiments. The underlying molecular mechanisms of PNO1 were examined by RNA-seq analysis and a series of functional experiments. Results PNO1 expression was considerably higher in HCC tissues and the higher expression of PNO1 was associated with poor prognosis of HCC patients. In vitro experiments indicated that PNO1 overexpression promoted proliferation and depressed apoptosis of HCC cells. In addition, high expression of PNO1 increased autophagy of HCC cells. Consistent results were also observed in vivo experiments. The results of the RNA-seq analysis indicted that PNO1 as an oncogene promoted HCC progression through the MAPK signaling pathway. The results were also verified by in vivo experiments. Conclusions PNO1 was overexpressed in HCC, promoted autophagy and inhibited apoptosis of HCC cells via the MAPK signaling pathway.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianfeng Wang ◽  
Si Xu ◽  
Huixue Zhang ◽  
Xiaoyu Lu ◽  
Shuang Li ◽  
...  

AbstractMyasthenia gravis (MG) is a complex neurological autoimmune disease with a pathogenetic mechanism that has yet to be elucidated. Emerging evidence has revealed that genes, non-coding RNAs and genetic variants play significant roles in the pathogenesis of MG. However, the molecular mechanisms of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located on lncRNAs could disturb lncRNA-mediated ceRNA regulatory functions still unclear in MG. In this study, we collated 276 experimentally confirmed MG risk genes and 192 MG risk miRNAs. We then constructed a lncRNA-mediated ceRNA network for MG based on multi-step computational strategies. Next, we systematically integrated risk pathways and identified candidate SNPs in lncRNAs for MG based on data acquired from public databases. In addition, we constructed a pathway-based lncRNA-SNP mediated network (LSPN) that contained 128 lncRNAs targeting 8 MG risk pathways. By analyzing network, we propose a latent mechanism for how the “lncRNA-SNP-mRNA-pathway” axis affects the pathogenesis of MG. Moreover, 25 lncRNAs and 51 SNPs on lncRNAs were extracted from the “lncRNA-SNP-mRNA-pathway” axis. Finally, functional analyses demonstrated lncRNA-SNPs mediated ceRNA regulation pairs associated with MG participated in the MAPK signaling pathway. In summary, we constructed MG-specific lncRNA-SNPs mediated ceRNA regulatory networks based on pathway in the present study, which was helpful to elucidate the roles of lncRNA-SNPs in the pathogenesis of MG and provide novel insights into mechanism of lncRNA-SNPs as potential genetic risk biomarkers of MG.


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