The Expression of Lnc-Il-7R Long Non-Coding Rna Dramatically Correlated With Soluble and Membrane-Bound Isoforms of Il-7Ra Gene in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Publisher Pubmed



Bina P¹ ; Pahlevan Kakhki M¹ ; Sahraian MA² ; Behmanesh M¹
Source: Neuroscience Letters Published:2017

Abstract

Background and purpose Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that causes physical and cognitive impairments. IL-7Ra is a key non-MHC gene associated with MS. IL-7Ra is a likely functional candidate for this complex disease because it is involved in the development, maturation, and homeostasis of T and B cells. Our aim was to evaluate the expression level and controlling role of lnc-IL-7R in the expression of two variants of IL-7Ra in MS patients versus healthy controls and their correlation with certain clinical features. Methods Using the real-time PCR method, we analyzed the expression levels of membrane-bound (IL-7RB) and soluble (IL-7RS) isoforms of IL-7R gene and lnc-IL-7R in 36 MS patients versus 30 healthy controls. Results Our results revealed no significant difference between the expression levels of IL-7RB and IL-7RS isoforms of IL-7R gene and lnc-IL-7R in MS patients versus healthy controls (p = 0.7, p = 0.6 and p = 0.8, respectively). Moreover, we found a significant correlation between the expression levels of IL-7RB with lnc-IL-7R, IL-7RS with lnc-IL-7R and IL-7RB with IL-7RS in both patient and control groups. Conclusions We have probably uncovered new evidence for the controlling role of long non-coding RNAs in the expression level of genes and their roles in MS. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.