Microarray profile of long noncoding RNA and messenger RNA expression in a model of Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by a deficiency in cognitive skills. Although long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been proposed as associated with AD, the aberrant lncRNAs expression and the co-expression of lncRNAs-mRNAs network in AD remains unclear. Therefore, in this study, lncRNA microarray was performed on the brain of APP/PS1 mice at different age, widely used as an AD mouse model, and on age-matched wide-type controls. Our results identified a total of 3306 lncRNAs and 2458 mRNAs as aberrantly expressed among AD mice at different age and their age-matched control. Gene Ontology and pathway analysis of the AD-related lncRNAs and mRNAs indicated that neuroinflammation-related and synaptic transmission signaling pathways represented the main enriched pathways. An lncRNA–mRNA–miRNA network between the differentially expressed transcripts was constructed. Moreover, an mRNA–miRNA network between both significantly dysregulated and highly conserved genes was also constructed, and among this network, the IGF1, P2RX7, TSPO, SERPINE1, EGFR, HMOX1, and NFE212 genes were predicted to play a role in the development of AD. In conclusion, this study illustrated the prognostic value of lncRNAs and mRNAs associated to AD pathology by microarray analysis and might provide potential novel biomarkers in the diagnosis and treatment of AD.