System level characterization of small molecule drugs and their affected long noncoding RNAs

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have multiple regulatory roles and are involved in many human diseases. A potential therapeutic strategy based on targeting lncRNAs was recently developed. To gain insight into the global relationship between small molecule drugs and their affected lncRNAs, we constructed a small molecule lncRNA network consisting of 1206 nodes (1033 drugs and 173 lncRNAs) and 4770 drug-lncRNA associations using LNCmap, which reannotated the microarray data from the Connectivity Map (CMap) database. Based on network biology, we found that the connected drug pairs tended to share the same targets, indications, and side effects. In addition, the connected drug pairs tended to have a similar structure. By inferring the functions of lncRNAs through their co-expressing mRNAs, we found that lncRNA functions related to the modular interface were associated with the mode of action or side effects of the corresponding connected drugs, suggesting that lncRNAs may directly/indirectly participate in specific biological processes after drug administration. Finally, we investigated the tissue-specificity of drug-affected lncRNAs and found that some kinds of drugs tended to have a broader influence (e.g. antineoplastic and immunomodulating drugs), whereas some tissue-specific lncRNAs (nervous system) tended to be affected by multiple types of drugs.