Identification of changed expression of mRNAs and lncRNAs in osteoarthritic synovium by RNA-sequencing.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are recently reported to regulate the homeostasis of cartilage in osteoarthritis (OA), but their regulatory roles in OA synovium remain elusive. This study aimed to identify the differentially expressed mRNAs and lncRNAs in OA synovium and further explore the function of differentially expressed lncRNAs in OA progression through bioinformatics analysis. We started with RNA-sequencing in 5 OA synovium samples and 5 healthy controls to compare the expression of mRNAs and lncRNAs. GO analysis and KEGG pathway analysis were performed to annotate the function of differentially expressed mRNAs. Then real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was admitted in 17 osteoarthritic synovium and 18 healthy controls to confirm the changes of the expression of the selected lncRNAs. LncRNA-mRNA co-expression network was constructed to predict the potential molecular regulatory mechanisms of specifically expressed lncRNAs in OA synovium. 384 mRNAs and 17 lncRNAs were detected to be differentially expressed in OA synovium. The expressions of 4 lncRNAs were confirmed by qRT-PCR. We found the differentially expression lncRNAs could potentially regulate OA progression through pathways regarding to immune response through the lncRNA-mRNA network and further annotation for co-expression mRNAs. Our results indicated that lncRNAs may play key roles in OA synovitis and may have potential value in OA diagnosis.

Xiang S ，Li Z ，Bian Y ，Weng X ... -  《-》

RNA sequencing reveals the circular RNA expression profiles of osteoarthritic synovium.

The role of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in regulating cartilage homeostasis in osteoarthritis (OA) has been reported. However, the regulatory mechanisms of circRNAs in OA synovium remains basically unidentified. The current study intended to divulge the expression profile of circRNAs in OA synovium and investigate the possible molecular mechanisms of circRNAs in synovitis in OA through an integrated bioinformatics analysis. A total of 35 synovium samples were collected, including 17 from patients with knee OA and 18 from controls. circRNA sequencing was then carried out on five OA synovium samples as well as five controls to explore the expression pattern of the circRNAs. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was done to confirm the manifestation levels of six differentially expressed circRNAs. Gene Ontology (GO) as well as Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG) enrichment analyses were done for differentially expressed circRNAs using the DAVID database to annotate the functions. The circRNA-miRNA coexpression network was then created to estimate the probable molecular regulatory mechanisms of specifically expressed circRNAs in OA synovium. Total of 122 circRNAs were found to be differentially expressed in OA synovium through RNA sequencing. The expressions of five downregulated circRNAs as well as an upregulated circRNA were confirmed through the use of qRT-PCR. The circRNA-miRNA network was created to annotate the probable molecular regulatory mechanisms of specifically expressed circRNAs. Our outcomes revealed that circRNAs might be incorporated in the initiation as well as development of OA synovitis and might have prospective importance in OA diagnosis and therapy.

Xiang S ，Li Z ，Bian Y ，Weng X ... -  《-》

Key Anti-Fibrosis Associated Long Noncoding RNAs Identified in Human Hepatic Stellate Cell via Transcriptome Sequencing Analysis.

Li XQ ，Ren ZX ，Li K ，Huang JJ ，Huang ZT ，Zhou TR ，Cao HY ，Zhang FX ，Tan B ... -  《INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES》

Expression profile of long noncoding RNAs in cartilage from knee osteoarthritis patients.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as a novel class of regulatory molecules involved in various biological processes, but their role in osteoarthritis (OA) remains unknown. Therefore, we aimed to reveal lncRNAs expression profile in human osteoarthritic cartilage and explore the potential functions of lncRNAs in OA. The expression profiles of lncRNAs and mRNAs in OA cartilage were obtained using microarray and verified by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Bioinformatics analyses including lncRNA classification and subgroup analysis, gene ontology (GO) analysis, pathway analysis, network analysis and target prediction were performed. There were 3007 upregulated lncRNAs and 1707 downregulated lncRNAs in OA cartilage compared with normal samples (Fold change ≥ 2.0). In addition, 2136 mRNAs were upregulated and 2,241 mRNAs were downregulated in OA cartilage (Fold change ≥ 2.0). The qRT-PCR results of six dysregulated lncRNAs were consistent with the microarray data. 106 lncRNAs and 291 mRNAs composed the coding-non-coding gene co-expression network (CNC network). In the 600 top differentially expressed lncRNAs, 48 lncRNAs were predicted to have more than five cis-regulated target genes and up to 530 lncRNAs might regulate their trans target genes through collaboration with transcriptional factor (TF) SP1. The positive correlation between lncRNA uc.343 and predicted target homeobox gene C8 (HOXC8) expression in SW1353 cells treating with interleukin-1 beta confirmed the target prediction to some extent. This study revealed the expression pattern of lncRNAs in OA cartilage and predicted the potential function and targets, which indicated that lncRNAs may be new biomarkers for diagnosis or novel therapeutic targets of OA.

Fu M ，Huang G ，Zhang Z ，Liu J ，Zhang Z ，Huang Z ，Yu B ，Meng F ... -  《-》

Cell cycle-related lncRNAs and mRNAs in osteoarthritis chondrocytes in a Northwest Chinese Han Population.

Zhang F ，Lammi MJ ，Tan S ，Meng P ，Wu C ，Guo X ... -  《-》