Genome-wide analysis of long noncoding RNA profile in human gastric epithelial cell response to Helicobacter pylori

Abstract

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are an important class of pervasive genes and their misregulation has been shown in various types of diseases. However, the relationship between lncRNAs and immune response to pathogen infection is rarely reported. Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) is a major human pathogenic bacterium causing gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, and gastric cancer. The regulatory mechanism of H. pylori-induced immune response is not clear yet. In this study, we identified nonoverlapping signatures of a small number of lncRNAs that are aberantly expressed in H.pylori infected gastric epithelial cell via a microarray analysis followed by bioassays. From the microarray data, we found that 24 lncRNAs were up-regulated and 22 were down-regulated. Five lncRNAs, XLOC_004562, XLOC_005912, XLOC_000620, XLOC_004122 and XLOC_014388 were further evaluated by qRT-PCR and the results matched well with microarray data. XLOC_004122 and XLOC_014388 were also decreased in gastric mucosal tissues of H.pylori positive patients. Differentially expressed lncRNAs might play a partial or key role in the immune response against H. pylori and this might provide potential targets for the future treatment of H. pylori related diseases.