Differential Expression profiles of tRNA-Derived Small RNAs in Rats After Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

The goals of this study are to screen differential expression profiles of tRNA-Derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) in rats after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) using next-generation sequencing and qRT-PCR.As a result, in rat spinal cord 1 day after contusion, totally 297 tsRNAs differentially expressed were identified. 155 tsRNAs were significantly differentially expressed: 91 were significantly up-regulated, while 64 were significantly down-regulated after SCI (folding change>1.5; P<0.05).Next, four tsRNAs were selected to be verified by qRT-PCR. Taken together,this study explored, for the first time, the significant alteration of tsRNA expression profiles after traumatic SCI in rats and offered deep insights into many possible treatment targets of SCI by regulating tsRNAs. Differential Expression profiles of tRNA-Derived Small RNAs of male Sprague–Dawley rats (250–300 g) were generated by deep sequencing, using NextSeq 500/550 V2 kit (#FC-404-2005, Illumina). twelve rats were randomly assigned to two groups using a computer-generated randomization schedule: rats in the sham control group (n = 6) were treated with laminectomy alone without contusion, and rats in the SCI group (n = 6) were subjected to laminectomy plus contusion.Cord tissue samples from rats in the SCI (n=6) and sham groups (n=6) including the collecting tissue for the Sequencing (n=4 in SCI and sham group respectively) and additional tissues (n=2 in SCI and sham group respectively) were used in the PCR experiment.