Identification of downstream targets and signaling pathways of long non-coding RNA NR_002794 in human trophoblast cells

Preeclampsia (PE) is a huge threat to pregnant women. Our previous study demonstrated that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) NR_002794 was highly expressed in placentas of PE patients and could regulate the phenotypes of trophoblast cells. However, the downstream regulatory mechanisms of NR_002794 remain unknown. In this text, some potential downstream targets or signaling pathways of NR_002794 were identified through RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and bioinformatics analysis in SWAN71 trophoblast cells. Western blot assay demonstrated that NR_002794 inactivated protein kinase B (AKT) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) pathways and activated cell apoptotic signaling in SWAN71 cells. Both RNA-seq and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) outcomes showed that NR_002794 up-regulation could notably inhibit the expression of C-C motif chemokine ligand 4 like 2 (CCL4L2), interleukin 15 receptor subunit alpha (IL15RA), interleukin 32 (IL32), and tyrosine kinase with immunoglobulin-like and EGF-like domains 1 (TIE1), while NR_002794 knockdown induced these gene expressions in SWAN71 cells. CCK-8, BrdU, Transwell, wound healing, and flow cytometry analyses showed that NR_002794 inhibited cell proliferation and migration and induced cell apoptosis through down-regulating TIE1 in SWAN71 cells. In conclusion, lncRNA NR_002794 could exert its functions by regulating AKT and ERK1/2 pathways and TIE1 expression in human trophoblast cells.