Potential Biomarker and Therapeutic LncRNAs in Multiple Sclerosis Through Targeting Memory B Cells

AbstractMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease that degenerates the central nervous system (CNS). B cells exacerbate the progression of CNS lesions in MS by producing auto-antibodies, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and presenting auto-antigens to activated T cells. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a crucial role in complex biological processes and their stability in body fluids combined with their tissue specificity make these biomolecules promising biomarker candidates for MS diagnosis. In the current study, we investigated memory B cell-specific lncRNAs located, on average, less than 50  kb from differentially expressed protein-coding genes in MS patients compared to healthy individuals. Moreover, we included in our selection criteria lncRNA transcripts predicted to interact with microRNAs with established involvement in MS. To assess the expression levels of lncRNAs and their adj acent protein-coding genes, quantitative reverse transcription PCR was performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells samples of 50 MS patients compared to 25 controls. Our results showed that in relapsing MS patients, compared to remitting MS patients and healthy controls, lncRNA RP11-530C5.1 wa s up-regulated while AL928742.12 was down-regulated. Pearson’s correlation tests showed positive correlations between the expression levels of RP11-530C5.1 and AL928742.12 withPAWR andIGHA2, respectively. The results of the ROC curve test demonstrated the potential biomarker roles o...
Source: NeuroMolecular Medicine - Category: Neurology Source Type: research