Aug 2026· Public Health Action· Vol 16, pp. 281 - 287· 0 citations· 20 references
Medicine
TL;DR
It is suggested that differentially expressed ncRNAs may play a role in the pathogenesis of TB and the circRNA and the hub mRNA are potential candidates for further exploration as biomarkers for TB infection.
Abstract
Background
Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been shown to play essential roles in various human diseases, including pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). This study aims to investigate differentially expressed ncRNAs, explore their potential biological functions, and determine whether they can serve as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in TB.
Methods
Whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing was performed on blood samples from TB patients and healthy controls (n = 3 per group). Differentially expressed mRNAs, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and microRNAs (miRNAs) were identified, followed by Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses. A competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was constructed, and hub genes were identified via protein–protein interaction network analysis using Cytoscape.
Results
A total of 507 differentially expressed mRNAs, 107 differentially expressed lncRNAs, 253 differentially expressed circRNAs, and 38 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified. Functional enrichment revealed involvement in pathways related to cellular processes, mTOR signalling, and endocytosis. A circRNA–miRNA–mRNA ceRNA network was constructed, and hub mRNAs including RACK1, EIF3G, and RPS15 were identified.
Conclusion
It is suggested that differentially expressed ncRNAs may play a role in the pathogenesis of TB. The circRNA (hsa_circ_0003340) and the hub mRNA (RACK1) are potential candidates for further exploration as biomarkers for TB infection. Moreover, the ceRNA network constructed in this study may provide new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of TB.
Background: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as important regulators of cardiovascular pathology and may serve as promising biomarkers for coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the contribution of many lncRNAs to CAD remains unclear. We aimed to identify novel CAD-associated lncRNAs by integrating publicly available transcriptomic datasets.
Methods: Three Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets were analyzed to identify differentially expressed lncRNAs between CAD patients and healthy controls. To explore the potential functions of the identified lncRNAs, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed using lncRNA-associated genes. The expression of JUNI was further validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).
Results: We identified 107 differentially expressed genes across the three datasets, including 14 dysregulated lncRNAs (11 upregulated and 3 downregulated) in CAD patients relative to controls. Functional enrichment analysis suggested that these lncRNAs are associated with transcriptional regulation, apoptotic signaling, and pathways potentially involved in CAD pathogenesis. qRT-PCR analysis confirmed significant upregulation of JUNI in CAD samples.
Conclusions: JUNI may represent a novel CAD-associated lncRNA. Our findings provide several of candidate lncRNAs for further investigation as potential biomarkers and regulatory molecules in CAD, although independent validation and mechanistic studies are required before clinical application.
A. Riahi, R. Safaralizadeh, Sara Saffar Soflaei et al.· Genetics and Molecular Resea...· 0 citations
Findings suggest that NEAT1 and SNHG17, which have been reported to regulate inflammatory responses in multiple pathological conditions, may play important roles in the host response to L. donovani infection and could serve as potential targets for the prevention and treatment of leishmaniasis.
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) stand as newly-arisen molecular types that exert regulatory effects, able to operate as competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to engage microRNAs (miRNAs) in interaction, resulting in the recovery of target mRNA expression and activity. Increasing evidences indicate that the ceRNA network affects various biological processes in mammals, including development, cellular differentiation, metabolism, immune response, and disease pathogenesis. In teleost fish, the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks have been reported occasionally. However, up to now, the roles of lncRNAs in the big-belly seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis) remains unclear. In this study, we reported for the first time, via whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing, the lncRNA mediated ceRNA regulatory network in Vibrio harveyi-infected H. abdominalis. A total of 4197 differentially expressed mRNAs (DE-mRNAs), 1317 DE-lncRNAs, and 183 DE-miRNAs were identified. Furthermore, the crosstalk between miRNAs and lncRNAs as well as between miRNAs and mRNAs was inferred based on the negative correlations between miRNAs and their target lncRNAs/mRNAs. A core immune associated lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA putative regulatory network was thus constructed, comprising 211 lncRNA-miRNA and 224 mRNA-miRNA pairs. In conclusion, our findings provide an integrative overview of the ceRNA regulatory networks on the underlying immune responses to V. harveyi infection in the big-belly seahorse, and offer a solid theoretical foundation for the comparative immunological research of teleost fish.
Qing Chu, Jiale Zhou, Yuxin Bai et al.· Comparative Biochemistry and...· 0 citations
This computational study identifies several candidate lncRNAs associated with clinical outcomes in breast cancer, which should be interpreted as preliminary candidates, which require future validation and functional studies to determine their biological roles and evaluate their potential as prognostic biomarkers.
M. Acencio, Xin-Hui Wang, Flavia R. Rotea Mangone et al.· International Journal of Mol...· 0 citations
The latest functional genomics strategies used to examine NCRNAS are discussed and their transformative ability in accurate therapy is highlighted, highlighting their transformative ability in accurate therapy.
Deepak Kumar Sahu, Harish Jaiswal· Research journal of biotechn...· 0 citations
The recent study aims to analyze the role of non-coding RNAs, particularly circRNAs, in HIV pathogenesis using construction of immune-related regulatory networks. In compliance with ethical standards and institutional guidelines, publicly available HIV-related mRNA and microRNA expression datasets were systematically retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus repository. These datasets underwent rigorous bioinformatics analysis employing the “limma” package in R to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and microRNAs (DEmiRNAs). Validated interaction data from miRBase and ENCORI databases facilitated the construction of circRNA-DEmiRNA and DEmiRNA-DEG regulatory networks. Protein-protein interaction networks were generated through STRING database analysis, with hub genes defined as those within the highest 5% of interaction degrees. Furthermore, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) datasets from HIV-infected individuals were analyzed using the “Seurat” package to identify DEGs in CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets. Cross-validation between microarray and scRNA-seq data ensured robustness of identified hub genes. Our results revealed substantial alterations in RNA expression associated with both high viral load and low viral load HIV infections. Single-cell analyses indicated significant gene expression shifts in T cell populations: 194 upregulated and 813 downregulated genes in CD4+ T cells, and 244 upregulated and 567 downregulated genes in CD8+ T cells. Integrated analysis delineated five hub genes consistently dysregulated across T cell subsets. STAT1 and DDX39B were upregulated, whereas CXCL8, CXCL12, and PTGS2 were downregulated. The pathway enrichment analysis indicated that these genes are implicated in key regulatory pathways relevant to infectious disease mechanisms. Alongside of DEGs, our studies indicated that multiple miRNAs, such as hsa-miR-21-5p, hsa-miR-146a-5p and hsa-let-7b-5p are differentially expressed in HIV-infected samples in comparison to the normal samples. Afterward, DEmiRNA-DEGs network studies demonstrated different axes between significantly up- and down-regulated DEGs with down- and up-regulated miRNAs, respectively. Following, ceRNA regulatory network revealed circRNAs, which can interact with DEmiRNA-DEGs networks, like hsa_circ_0089761-hsa-miR-21-5p-CXCL12, hsa_circ_0003812-hsa-miR-146a-5p-PTGS2, and has_circ_0007185–has_let-7b-5p–DDX39B. Overall, this integrative analysis suggests potential circRNA-mediated regulatory mechanisms in HIV infection and highlights potential candidate circRNAs that may serve as biomarkers or therapeutic targets for further investigation.
Negin Faraji, Leila Rouhi, A. Bolhassani et al.· PLoS ONE· 0 citations