RNA-seq analysis reveals RNA expression profiles following LPS-induced inflammation in bovine mammary epithelial cells

Purpose: to detect expression profile of RNA (lncRNA and circRNA) and elucidate differentially expressed RNAs (DElncRNAs and DEcircRNAs) with potential roles during lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation models of bovine mammary epithelial cells MAC-T in vitro. Methods: bovine mammary epithelial cells MAC-T were exposed to LPS for 0, 6 and 12 hours to assess the expression profiles of RNA (lncRNA and circRNA) using RNA-seq. Results: totally 112 DElncRNAs and 71 DEcircRNAs were screened out at different time points. Functional enrichment analysis on target genes of lncRNAs and host genes of circRNAs indicated that these genes were involve in regulating inflammation-related signaling pathways, including Notch, NF-κB, MAPK, PI3K-Akt, mTOR, MAPK and NOD-like receptor signaling pathway. Conclusion: these differentially expressed RNAs (DElncRNAs and DEcircRNAs) may be involved in the regulation of a variety of immune-related processes including inflammatory responses bovine mammary epithelial cells exposed to LPS via some vital signaling pathways. This study lays a foundation for further research on molecular regulation of bovine mastitis, and also provides a reference for breeding strategies based on molecular markers for mastitis resistance in dairy cows. Bovine mammary epithelial cells MAC-T previously frozen in liquid nitrogen were thawed and cultured in in three 6-well plates. When bovine mammary epithelial cell monolayers reached 80% confluence, one 6-well plate cells (0 hpi) were collected as the control group, and the remaining two 6-well plates were treated with 50 ng/μL LPS to stimulate an inflammatory response. The respective 6-well plates were collected at 6 and 12 hpi as the experimental groups. Subsequently, all samples were used to perform the RNA-seq.