Dynamic Transcription of Long Non-Coding RNA Genes during CD4+ T Cell Development and Activation

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence shows that long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) play important regulatory roles in many biology process, including cell development, activation and oncogenesis. However, the roles of these LncRNAs in the development and activation of CD4(+) T cells, which is an important component of immune response, remain unknown. RESULTS: To predict the function of LncRNA in the development and activation of CD4(+) T cells, first, we examined the expression profiles of LncRNAs and mRNAs in CD4(−)CD8(−) (DN), CD4(+)CD8(+) (DP), CD4(+)CD8(−), and activated CD4(+)CD8(−) T cells in a microarray analysis and verified these results by real time PCRs (qPCR). We found that the expression of hundreds of LncRNAs significantly changed in each process of developmental transition, including DN into DP, DP into CD4(+)CD8(−), and CD4(+)CD8(−) into activated CD4(+) T cells. A Kendall distance analysis suggested that the expression of LncRNAs in DN, DP, CD4(+)CD8(−) T cells and activated CD4(+) T cells were correlated with the expression of mRNAs in these T cells. The Blat algorithm and GO analysis suggested that LncRNAs may exert important roles in the development and activation of CD4(+) T cells. These roles included proliferation, homeostasis, maturation, activation, migration, apoptosis and calcium ion transportation. CONCLUSION: The present study found that the expression profiles of LncRNAs in different stages of CD4(+) T cells are distinguishable. LncRNAs are involved in the key biological process in CD4(+) T cell development and activation.