Inflammatory lncRNA AK039862 regulates paraquat-inhibited proliferation and migration of microglial and neuronal cells through the Pafah1b1/Foxa1 pathway in co-culture environments

Abstract

Emerging evidences having suggested that particular lncRNAs have a potential effect on PD progression through provoking damage and inflammatory responses of microglia/ dopaminergic cells. In addition, paraquat can be accumulated in human body through various approaches and have an increased risk for Parkinson’s disease. However, the specific role and mechanism of lncRNA related to neurotoxic in the progression of PD is unclear. In our study, a mouse PD model was established induced by the intraperitoneal injection of paraquat (5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg) every three days (10 times). We determined differential expression of lncRNA AK039862 and its potential targeted genes Pafah1b1/Foxa1 in PD mouse model, then we used fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to visualize the cellular distribution of AK039862. Short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and overexpression plasmids were designed for knockdown or overexpression of AK039862. To simulate the coexisting dopaminergic cells and microglia cells in vitro, we applied several non-contact co-culture models, including conditioned medium and Transwell co-culture systems. Cytotoxicity of PQ was evaluated using bv2 cells with the concentrations: 30, 60 μM, and mn9d cells with the concentrations: 50, 100 μM. As a result, we depicted multiple interesting individual and interactive features of inflammatory lncRNA AK039862 involved in PQ-induced cellular functional effects. First, we detected that AK039862 contributed to the neuronal injury process in PQ-treated mice and co-localization of AK039862 with dopaminergic cells in vivo. And interestingly, we demonstrated that PQ significantly inhibited microglia and dopaminergic cells proliferation and microglia migration in vitro. Further research indicated that the PQ-induced low expression of AK039862 rescued microglia proliferation and migration inhibition via the AK039862/Pafah1b1/Foxa1 pathway. Meanwhile, AK039862 also participated in the interaction between microglia and dopaminergic cells with PQ treatment in non-contact co-culture models. In summary, we found that PQ inhibited the proliferation and migration of microglial cells, and elucidated AK039862 played a key role in PQ-induced neuroinflammatory damage through Pafah1b1/Foxa1. Finally, inflammatory AK039862 is involved in the complex communication between microglia and dopaminergic cells in the environment of PQ damage.