Next-Generation Sequencing identified piRNA profiles in healthy and Alzheimer’s-affected human brain. Homo sapiens

To investigate the presence of piRNAs and their potential functions in human brain and neurodegenerations, we performed the genomic profiling in Healthy Brain (HB) sample as well as Alzheimer-affected brain (AD) sample by adopting Next-Gen small RNA sequencing technology. Using deep sequencing of small RNAs, we identified an extensive catalogue of 564 and 451 mature piRNAs in HB and AD respectively. The piRNAs from each sample exhibited varied length distribution between 26-32 nts and are originated from different genomic locations. We found 149 piRNAs to be differentially expressed in Alzheimer’s disease which comprises of 146 up-regulated and 3 down-regulated piRNAs. Ours is the first study that reported the presence of piRNAs in healthy as well as Alzheimer’s disease-affected human brain. The extensive catalogue of human piRNAs detected in this study provides a useful resource for decrypting the involvement of piRNAs in neurological functions as well as neurodegenerations. Overall design: Total RNA isolated from healthy human and Alzheimer’s disease brain using modified guanidine thiocyanate technique was used for library preparation as prescribed by Illumina Truseq small RNA library protocol. The small RNA sequencing was performed on Illumina NextSeq 500.