Identification of differentially expressed circulating exosomal lncRNAs in IgA nephropathy patients

• Main Authors: Na Guo, Qin Zhou, Xiang Huang, Jianwen Yu, Qianqian Han, Baoting Nong, Yuanyan Xiong, Peifen Liang, Jiajia Li, Min Feng, Jun Lv, Qiongqiong Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2020-03-01
• Series: BMC Immunology
• Subjects: Exosome; Long non-coding RNAs; IgA nephropathy; High-throughput sequencing; Biomarker
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12865-020-00344-1

Abstract Background Although immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is one of the foremost primary glomerular disease, treatment of IgAN is still in infancy. Non-invasive biomarkers are urgently needed for IgAN diagnosis. We investigate the difference in expression profiles of exosomal long non-coding-RNAs (lncRNAs) in plasma from IgAN patients compared with their healthy first-degree relatives, which may reveal novel non-invasive IgAN biomarkers. Methods We isolated exosomes from the plasma of both IgAN patients and their healthy first-degree relatives. High-throughput RNA sequencing and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to validate lncRNA expression profiles. Pathway enrichment analysis was used to predict their nearest protein-coding genes. Results lncRNA-G21551 was significantly down-regulated in IgAN patients. Interestingly, the nearest protein-coding gene of lncRNA-G21551 was found to be encoding the low affinity receptor of the Fc segment of immunoglobulin G (FCGR3B). Conclusions Exosomal lncRNA-G21551, with FCGR3B as the nearest protein-coding gene, was down-regulated in IgAN patients, indicating its potential to serve as a non-invasive biomarker for IgAN.