Network-based modelling reveals cell-type enriched patterns of non-coding RNA regulation during human skeletal muscle remodelling

• Published in: NAR molecular medicine Vol. 1; no. 4; p. ugae016
• Main Authors: Mcleod, Jonathan C, Lim, Changhyun, Stokes, Tanner, Sharif, Jalil-Ahmad, Zeynalli, Vagif, Wiens, Lucas, D’Souza, Alysha C, Colenso-Semple, Lauren, McKendry, James, Morton, Robert W, Mitchell, Cameron J, Oikawa, Sara Y, Wahlestedt, Claes, Chapple, J Paul, McGlory, Chris, Timmons, James A, Phillips, Stuart M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01.10.2024
• ISSN: 2976-856X; 2976-856X
• DOI: 10.1093/narmme/ugae016

A majority of human genes produce non-protein-coding RNA (ncRNA), and some have roles in development and disease. Neither ncRNA nor human skeletal muscle is ideally studied using short-read sequencing, so we used a customized RNA pipeline and network modelling to study cell-type specific ncRNA responses during muscle growth at scale. We completed five human resistance-training studies (n = 144 subjects), identifying 61% who successfully accrued muscle-mass. We produced 288 transcriptome-wide profiles and found 110 ncRNAs linked to muscle growth in vivo, while a transcriptome-driven network model demonstrated interactions via a number of discrete functional pathways and single-cell types. This analysis included established hypertrophy-related ncRNAs, including CYTOR—which was leukocyte-associated (false discovery rate [FDR] = 4.9 × 10−7). Novel hypertrophy-linked ncRNAs included PPP1CB-DT (myofibril assembly genes, FDR = 8.15 × 10−8), and EEF1A1P24 and TMSB4XP8 (vascular remodelling and angiogenesis genes, FDR = 2.77 × 10−5). We also discovered that hypertrophy lncRNA MYREM shows a specific myonuclear expression pattern in vivo. Our multi-layered analyses established that single-cell-associated ncRNA are identifiable from bulk muscle transcriptomic data and that hypertrophy-linked ncRNA genes mediate their association with muscle growth via multiple cell types and a set of interacting pathways.