Long non-coding RNA expression profiling in rat heart

We investigated the changes in expression profile and potential roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in right ventricle (RV) myocardium of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) rats with RV failure induced by acute inflammation. Sprague-Dawley rats were given monocrotaline to establish a PAH model and acute heart failure was induced by an injection of lipopolysaccharide. The RV failure was confirmed by echocardiography data. The expression profiles of lncRNAs and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in RV tissues were obtained by RNA sequencing. Bioinformatics analyses were performed, including Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis and co-expression network analysis. We also conducted real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to confirm the results of RNA sequencing. A total of 169 lncRNAs (101 upregulated and 68 down-regulated) and 898 mRNAs (623 upregulated and 275 down-regulated) were differently expressed in PAH rats with acute RV failure. The expression levels of lncRNA (TCONS_00052110, TCONS_00201718, TCONS_00094247, and TCONS_00296056) and mRNA (Cxcl-1 and Timp4) were verified through qRT-PCR, the results of which were consistent with RNA sequencing. lncRNA expression data in RV myocardium of PAH rats with acute RV failure will provide important insights about the contribution of lncRNAs to heart failure in PAH model.