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RNA Pull-down Procedure to Identify RNA Targets of a Long Non-coding RNA
Published on: April 10, 2018
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Cognition-associated long noncoding RNAs are dysregulated upon severe COVID-19
Jonathan D Lee1, Isaac H Solomon2, Frank J Slack1,3
1Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
Frontiers in Immunology
|February 27, 2024
Summary
Severe COVID-19 causes significant changes in brain gene expression, impacting cognitive function. Researchers identified long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) linked to these cognitive deficits and inflammation in COVID-19 patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Genomics
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Severe COVID-19 is associated with cognitive impairment.
- Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are critical regulators of gene expression.
- Understanding lncRNA changes in the brain during COVID-19 is crucial for explaining neurocognitive deficits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify differentially expressed long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the human brain of severe COVID-19 patients.
- To investigate the association between these lncRNAs, cognitive performance, and inflammatory responses.
- To nominate potential regulatory lncRNAs involved in COVID-19-associated neurocognitive changes.
Main Methods:
- Transcriptomic analysis of brain tissue from COVID-19 patients and uninfected controls.
- Differential gene expression analysis focusing on lncRNAs.
- Correlation analysis between lncRNA expression, cognitive scores, and inflammatory markers.
Main Results:
- Hundreds of lncRNAs were found to be differentially expressed in the brains of COVID-19 patients.
- Many of these dysregulated lncRNAs correlated with decreased cognitive performance.
- A significant association was observed between altered lncRNA expression and elevated inflammatory cytokine levels.
Conclusions:
- Severe COVID-19 induces widespread changes in lncRNA expression within the human brain.
- These lncRNA alterations may play a key regulatory role in the neurocognitive impairments observed in COVID-19 patients.
- lncRNAs represent potential therapeutic targets for mitigating cognitive dysfunction post-COVID-19.
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