LncRNA/miRNA/mRNA ceRNA network analysis in spinal cord injury rat with physical exercise therapy

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 10; p. e13783
• Main Authors: Wu, Jiahuan, Li, Xiangzhe, Wang, Qinghua, Wang, Sheng, He, Wenhua, Wu, Qinfeng, Dong, Chuanming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States PeerJ. Ltd 29.07.2022; PeerJ, Inc; PeerJ Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Antisense RNA; Bioinformatics; Cell Biology; Cell death; Competing endogenous RNA; Demyelination; Exercise; Exercise Therapy; Fitness equipment; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genomics; Inflammation; Long noncoding RNA; Medical research; Medical treatment; MicroRNA; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - genetics; miRNA; mRNA; Neuroscience; Non-coding RNA; Nucleus pulposus; Physical fitness; Rats; RNA, Circular; RNA, Long Noncoding - genetics; RNA, Messenger - genetics; Sample size; Spinal cord injuries; Spinal Cord Injuries - genetics; Spinal Cord Injuries - therapy; Spinal cord injury; Sports Medicine; Surgery; China; microRNA; Nucleus pulposus; Long noncoding RNA; Spinal cord injury; Competing endogenous RNA
• ISSN: 2167-8359; 2167-8359
• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13783

Noncoding RNAs have been implicated in the pathophysiology of spinal cord injury (SCI), including cell death, glial scar formation, axonal collapse and demyelination, and inflammation. The evidence suggests that exercise therapy is just as effective as medical treatment in SCI. However, studies of competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA)-mediated regulation mechanisms in the therapy of SCI with exercise are rare. The focus of this research was to investigate the effect of exercise therapy on the expression levels of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and mRNA in rats with SCI. The RNA-seq technology has been used to examine the differentially expressed circRNAs (DECs), lncRNAs (DELs), miRNAs (DEMs), and genes (DEGs) between SCI and exercise therapy rats. The ceRNA network was established using interactions between miRNAs and mRNAs, as well as between miRNAs and lncRNAs/circRNAs. The Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery was used to anticipate the underlying functions of mRNAs. Our current study identified 76 DELs, 33 DEMs, and 30 DEGs between groups of SCI rats and exercise therapy rats. Subsequently, these newly discovered ceRNA interaction axes could be important targets for the exercise treatment of SCI.