LINC00657 expedites neuropathic pain development by modulating miR-136/ZEB1 axis in a rat model

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in the progression of several diseases. The interactions among lncRNAs, microRNA (miRNAs) or their targeting genes are reported to play crucial roles in the development of diseases. LINC00657 is observed to be upregulated in several cancers. However, the biological role of LINC00657 in neuropathic pain progress is unclear. Hence, in our study, we aimed to investigate the function of LINC00657 in neuropathic pain development. A chronic constriction injury (CCI) rat model was established, and we found that LINC00657 was greatly increased in CCI rats associated with a decrease of miR-136. Inhibition of LINC00657 suppressed neuropathic pain via alleviating mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia. In addition, miR-136 overexpression can also inhibit the neuropathic pain development. MiR-136 was predicted to serve as a miRNA target of LINC00657, and dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed the correlation between LINC00657 and miR-136. Moreover, we observed that the decrease of LINC00657 was able to inhibit the neuroinflammation of CCI rats by targeting expression of cyclooxygenase-2, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β while miR-136 inhibitors reversed this phenomenon. Next, by using bioinformatics analysis, ZEB1 was predicted as a direct target of miR-136, and miR-136 could negatively modulate ZEB1 expression. Besides these, ZEB1 was remarkably increased in the CCI rats. Knockdown of ZEB1 can inhibit neuropathic pain development, while miR-136 inhibitors can reverse it. In conclusion, it was implied that LINC00657 can induce the neuropathic pain development via regulating miR-136/ZEB1 axis.