The Neat Dance of COVID-19: NEAT1, DANCR, and Co-Modulated Cholinergic RNAs Link to Inflammation.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic exerts inflammation-related parasympathetic complications and post-infection manifestations with major inter-individual variability. To seek the corresponding transcriptomic origins for the impact of COVID-19 infection and its aftermath consequences, we sought the relevance of long and short non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) for susceptibility to COVID-19 infection. We selected inflammation-prone men and women of diverse ages among the cohort of Genome Tissue expression (GTEx) by mining RNA-seq datasets from their lung, and blood tissues, followed by quantitative qRT-PCR, bioinformatics-based network analyses and thorough statistics compared to brain cell culture and infection tests with COVID-19 and H1N1 viruses. In lung tissues from 57 inflammation-prone, but not other GTEx donors, we discovered sharp declines of the lung pathology-associated ncRNA DANCR and the nuclear paraspeckles forming neuroprotective ncRNA NEAT1. Accompanying increases in the acetylcholine-regulating transcripts capable of controlling inflammation co-appeared in SARS-CoV-2 infected but not H1N1 influenza infected lung cells. The lung cells-characteristic DANCR and NEAT1 association with inflammation-controlling transcripts could not be observed in blood cells, weakened with age and presented sex-dependent links in GTEx lung RNA-seq dataset. Supporting active involvement in the inflammatory risks accompanying COVID-19, DANCR's decline associated with decrease of the COVID-19-related cellular transcript ACE2 and with sex-related increases in coding transcripts potentiating acetylcholine signaling. Furthermore, transcription factors (TFs) in lung, brain and cultured infected cells created networks with the candidate transcripts, indicating tissue-specific expression patterns. Supporting links of post-infection inflammatory and cognitive damages with cholinergic mal-functioning, man and woman-originated cultured cholinergic neurons presented differentiation-related increases of DANCR and NEAT1 targeting microRNAs. Briefly, changes in ncRNAs and TFs from inflammation-prone human lung tissues, SARS-CoV-2-infected lung cells and man and woman-derived differentiated cholinergic neurons reflected the inflammatory pathobiology related to COVID-19. By shifting ncRNA differences into comparative diagnostic and therapeutic profiles, our RNA-sequencing based Resource can identify ncRNA regulating candidates for COVID-19 and its associated immediate and predicted long-term inflammation and neurological complications, and sex-related therapeutics thereof. Our findings encourage diagnostics of involved tissue, and further investigation of NEAT1-inducing statins and anti-cholinergic medications in the COVID-19 context.

• Authors: Chanan Meydan, Nimrod Madrer, Hermona Soreq
• Journal: Frontiers in immunology (Front Immunol) Vol. 11 Pg. 590870 ( 2020) ISSN: 1664-3224 [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 33163005 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2020 Meydan, Madrer and Soreq.

Chemical References

• DANCR long noncoding RNA, human
• MicroRNAs
• NEAT1 long non-coding RNA, human
• RNA, Long Noncoding
• Transcription Factors
• Acetylcholine

Topics

• A549 Cells
• Acetylcholine (metabolism)
• Brain (metabolism, pathology)
• COVID-19 (genetics, virology)
• Cholinergic Neurons (metabolism)
• Databases, Genetic
• Female
• Humans
• Inflammation (genetics)
• Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype
• Influenza, Human (genetics, virology)
• Lung (metabolism, pathology)
• Male
• MicroRNAs (genetics)
• RNA, Long Noncoding (genetics)
• RNA-Seq
• SARS-CoV-2
• Transcription Factors (genetics)
• Transcriptome