Abstract
Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) is a major etiological agent of sexually transmitted infection. Some stressing conditions can result in persistent chlamydial infection, which is thought to be associated with severe complications including ectopic pregnancy and tubal factor infertility. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified as key modulators in many biological processes. Nevertheless, the role of lncRNAs in persistent chlamydial infection is still unclear. In this study, we used lncRNA and mRNA microarray to identify the global lncRNAs and mRNAs expression in penicillin-induced persistent chlamydial infection in HeLa cells as well as the control group (HeLa cells without C. trachomatis infection). Among 1005 differentially expressed lncRNAs, 585 lncRNAs were upregulated and 420 downregulated in persistent chlamydial infection, while 410 mRNAs were identified to express differentially, of which 113 mRNAs were upregulated and 297 downregulated. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis with differentially expressed genes were performed. We then constructed the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) network. Four mRNAs were validated to be changed by quantitative real-time PCR which were correlated with the microarray result. Integration of protein-protein interaction network was constructed and hub genes were identified. These findings provide a new perspective on the molecular mechanisms of penicillin-induced persistent chlamydial infection.
Highlights
Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis), as a Gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium, causes various diseases and sequelae in human beings
Our microarray data revealed the dysregulation of Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in penicillin-induced persistent chlamydial infection in HeLa cells
Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed to analyze the potential functions of dysregulated mRNAs
Summary
Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis), as a Gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium, causes various diseases and sequelae in human beings. Serovars D to K are the major etiological pathogens of the most common sexually transmitted infection, while serovars L1 to L3 lead to lymphatic system infection (Witkin et al, 2017). Females infected with C. trachomatis in the genital tract usually show asymptomatic. Diseases such as cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and severe complications including ectopic pregnancy and tubal factor infertility (TFI) probably happen after the asymptomatic infection without a timely treatment (Tsevat et al, 2017).
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