LncRNA Expression in CD4+ T Cells in Neurosyphilis Patients.

Li-Li Liu,Hua-Jun Fu,Jiang-Hua Yan,Man-Li Tong,Yong Lin,Hui-Lin Zhang,Xiao-Yong Jiang,Wei-Hong Zheng,Hai-Juan Luo,Shao-Gang Zhu,Tian-Ci Yang,Li-Rong Lin,Ning-Ning Zhang,Jun Ren

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2017.00461

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that several long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in regulating the immune response to cope with pathogenic invasion. To date, the roles of lncRNAs in the CD4+ T cell response to Treponema pallidum (T. pallidum) infection in neurosyphilis patients remain unknown. The mRNA and lncRNA expression profiles of CD4+ T cells that were isolated from neurosyphilis patients and healthy controls were analyzed by microarray. A total of 2258 lncRNAs and 1728 mRNAs were identified as over-expressed or under-expressed, respectively (fold change > 1.5) in the CD4+ T cells of neurosyphilis patients compared to the healthy controls. The lncRNA-mRNA co-expression network showed that 59 lncRNAs showed significant differences along with significantly different mRNAs. Among the 59 gene pairs, the LOC79999 mRNA was positively correlated with the RP11-160E2.16, RP11-160E2.11, and RP11-160E2.19 lncRNAs, and the NKX1-1 mRNA was positively correlated with the RP11-1398P2.1, RP11-160E2.19, and XLOC_003422 lncRNAs. The following five mRNAs were correlated with two differential lncRNAs: DUSP16, AP000349.1, FAM115C, TIMM8A, and SMCHD1. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed that the differentially expressed coding genes were mainly involved in biological processes and the top 4 terms that associated with above-mentioned differentially expressed coding genes were as follows: defense response to fungus, defense response to bacterium, killing of cells of other organism and disruption of cells of another organism. A subsequent pathway analysis was also conducted, and several pathways, including the T cell receptor, MAPK, and TGF-beta signaling pathways, were associated with the differentially expressed mRNAs. This study reveals the differential expression profiles of lncRNAs in the CD4+ T cell response to the T. pallidum infection in neurosyphilis patients. LncRNAs are involved in key biological processes that comprise the CD4+ T cell response to the T. pallidum infection.

Highlights

Syphilis is a chronic systemic sexually transmitted disease that is caused by Treponema pallidum (T. pallidum) (Tong et al, 2014)
Neurosyphilis can occur at any stage following an infection with T. pallidum and its incidence has recently increased (VillarQuiles and Porta-Etessam, 2016)
We found that CD4+ T cells were significantly decreased in neurosyphilis patients

Summary

Introduction

Syphilis is a chronic systemic sexually transmitted disease that is caused by Treponema pallidum (T. pallidum) (Tong et al, 2014). Many lncRNAs in the mammalian genome were shown to be involved in regulating the expression of genes that were associated with innate immune processes (Ouyang et al, 2016). Li et al reported that lncRNA-NRON in CD4+ T cells could down-regulate the Tat protein and promote the continuous presence of the HIV-1 virus in the body (Li et al, 2016). The endeavors in this field have revealed that lncRNAs can regulate the expression of protein-coding genes by affecting mRNA transcription, splicing and translation and that the physiological processes that are associated with cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis would be altered (Mattick, 2009)

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Conclusion