Deregulated expression of lncRNAs in cystic fibrosis airway epithelial cells

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K15163
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Medical pharmacy
• Research Institution: Kumamoto University
• Principal Investigator: Shuto Tsuyoshi 熊本大学, 大学院生命科学研究部(薬), 准教授 (80333524)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: マイクロアレイ / CFTR / IncRNA

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the lethal inherited disorder caused by mutation in the gene encoding the CF transmembrane regulator (CFTR). However, the molecular basis of what and how gene transcription is regulated by mutant CFTR is still unclear. Here, I focused on lncRNAs, the novel class of functional RNA molecules with little or no protein-coding capacity. Human transcriptome array (HTA) characterized many coding and non-coding RNAs that are dysregulated in CFTR-dysfunctional CF cell line (CFBE41o-), and some of these genes are associated with some of the CF phenotypes. Among these non-coding RNAs, I identified six novel lncRNAs whose expression levels were inversely correlated with that of WT-CFTR, and five of six lncRNAs were significantly and consistently increased in primary human CF airway epithelial cells (DHBE-CF). This study may provide a novel molecular basis for CF-associated gene/protein dysregulation and pathology.

Free Research Field

細胞生物学、薬理学、分子生物学