Effect of knockdown LncRNA SNHG1 on autophagic function in SH-SY5Y cells: a model of Alzheimer's disease (AD)

Alzheimer 's disease, a neurodegenerative disease, is considered a serious global type of dementia affecting predominantly elderly associated with progressive memory loss. Alzheimer 's disease exhibits typical pathological manifestations including neuronal loss, β-amyloid deposition, and tau protein neurofibrillary tangles. Significantly increased expression of long-non -coding transcript RNA, LncRNA SNHG1, was detected in the brain of AD patients. However, it is not clear whether knockdown of LncRNA SNHG1 might improve autophagy function in SH-SY5Y cells and reduce the number of apoptotic cells. The aim of this study was to (1) examine the role of LncRNA SNHG1 on autophagic function of SH-SY5Y cells following induction by Aβ1-42 and (2) elucidate the underlying mechanisms. SH-SY5Y cells were transfected with lentiviral vectors to construct a cell line with stable genetic ability to knock down LncRNA SNHG1 and compared to control empty vector cell line. Following induction with Aβ1-42 for 24 hr, an AD cell model was constructed. Downregulation with LncRNA SNHG1 significantly increased cell viability and lowered the number of apoptotic cells. Concomitantly downregulation of the expression of LncRNA SNHG1 in SH-SY5Y cells induced significant decrease in expression of p-tau and caspase3 associated with elevated expression of Beclin1 and AMBRA1. Our results showed that knockdown of LncRNA SNHG1 in SH-SY5Y cells reduced the number of apoptotic cells by enhancing expression of Beclin1 and AMBRA1. Data suggest that by knocking down the expression of LncRNA SNHG1 may be considered a potential target for compounds to treat AD.