AUTHOR=Li Nianshuang , Ouyang Yaobin , Chen Sihai , Peng Chao , He Cong , Hong Junbo , Yang Xiaoyu , Zhu Yin , Lu Nong-Hua 

TITLE=Integrative Analysis of Differential lncRNA/mRNA Expression Profiling in Helicobacter pylori Infection-Associated Gastric Carcinogenesis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00880

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.00880

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Helicobacter pylori</italic> (<italic>H. pylori</italic>) infection is the greatest known risk factor for gastric cancer (GC). Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are implicated in multiple biological processes. However, their contribution in <italic>H. pylori</italic>-associated GC remains largely unknown. We performed transcriptome sequencing to investigate differential lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles in gastric AGS cells infected with the <italic>H. pylori</italic> strain 7.13 or 43504. We identified significantly differentially expressed (SDE) mRNAs and lncRNAs following <italic>H. pylori</italic> infection. A co-expression network of lncRNAs and mRNAs was constructed via WGCNA analysis. Moreover, several of the most significantly upregulated genes were selected for further validation by qRT-PCR analysis in <italic>H. pylori</italic>-infected gastric cells and transgenic INS-GAS mice. We finally evaluated these genes in human GC tissues. A total of 158442 genes were identified between uninfected and infected cells. Of these, 298 mRNAs and 73 lncRNAs were consistently differentially expressed following infection with the <italic>H. pylori</italic> 7.13 and 43504 strains, respectively. The expression levels of most upregulated mRNAs (DDIT4, NDRG1, CHAC1, IL32, RELB, CTH, and SLC7A1) and lncRNAs (lncRNA36068, lncRNA51663, lncRNA49853, lncRNA49852, and FLJ46906) were validated by qRT-PCR analysis. We found that <italic>H. pylori</italic> infection significantly induced the transcript levels of the coding genes RELB and SLC7A11 in <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic> assays, which was supported by their high expression levels in GC tissues. In addition, lncRNA51663 and FLJ46906 were remarkably increased in <italic>H. pylori</italic>-infected cells and consistently overexpressed in human GC tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues. Our study identified mRNA and lncRNA expression profiles related to <italic>H. pylori</italic> infection. These results may provide important insights regarding lncRNAs in <italic>H. pylori</italic>-induced gastric carcinogenesis.</p>