A pilot study of lncRNAs expression profile in serum of progressive multiple sclerosis patients

M. Santoro, V. Nociti, M. Lucchini, M. Loiodice, F. Centofanti, A. Botta, F.A. Losavio, C. De Fino, M. Mirabella

IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Milan, Italy. viviana.nociti@policlinicogemelli.it

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• Neurology

OBJECTIVE: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease that affect both white and gray matter. The relapsing and the eventually progressive course of MS is heterogeneous; thus, a confident long-term prediction of individual prognosis is not possible yet. Recent studies have demonstrated the role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) as potential biomarkers that could provide information to predict disease activity and progression.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: By qRT-PCR, we analysed the lncRNAs expression in the serum of 16 secondary progressive MS (SP-MS), 12 primary progressive (PP-MS) patients and 8 healthy controls.

RESULTS: We found that TUG1 was upregulated in SP-MS, while the comparison of PP-MS vs. controls showed a downregulation of non-protein coding RNA 188 (LRRC75A-AS1) and a significant upregulation of two lncRNAs: long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 293 (LINC00293) and RP11-29G8.3. Moreover, we performed an in-silico analysis using DIANA-LncBase v2 and HMDD v3.0 software, in order to predict the possible interaction of these four lncRNAs with miRNAs. We identified 21 miRNAs prediction targets possibly involved in MS.

CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate a regulatory function of these lncRNAs in autoimmune and inflammatory processes related to MS suggesting their potential role in progressive MS pathogenesis.

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