LncRNA profile in Hashimoto's thyroiditis and potential function of NONHSAT079547.2

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is a common organ-specific autoimmune disease, which develops in 0.3-1.5/1000 subjects annually. The aims of this study were to determine the lncRNA profile in peripheral blood CD4+ T cells from HT patients and then to characterize the potential function of NONHSAT079547.2. A total of 37 HT patients and 50 sex- and age-matched healthy controls were enrolled for high-throughput sequencing. Another 43 HT patients and 50 sex- and age-matched controls were enrolled for validation via real-time PCR. Flow cytometry and CCK8 assays were used to measure cell apoptosis and growth levels. Western blotting was used for measuring the expression of growth- and apoptosis-associated proteins. IL-17 serum concentration and transcriptional level in CD4+ T cells of participants were detected by ELISA and real-time PCR, respectively. The mechanism of competitive endogenous RNA was determined using real-time PCR, ELISA, RNA immunoprecipitation, and dual-luciferase assays in Jurkat cells. A total of 7564 significantly differentially expressed lncRNAs were found, of which 3913 lncRNAs were upregulated and 3651 lncRNAs were downregulated in HT group when compared to control group. NONHSAT079547.2 was significantly upregulated in HT patients and was positively correlated with serum thyroid peroxidase antibody level. Further studies confirmed that NONHSAT079547.2 could promote cell growth and control IL-17 expression and secretion via the NONHSAT079547.2/miR-4716-5p/IL-17 axis.This is the first study to describe the lncRNA profile in CD4+ T cells of HT patients. The studies on the function of NONHSAT079547.2 might elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms and represent potential biomarkers for HT.