LINCRNA01094 Promotes Renal Interstitial Fibrosis via the Mir-513b-5p/MELK/Smad3 Axis.

Background: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a common chronic disease that is a threat to human health. Accumulating evidence showed that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are associated with various diseases and can function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). However, the roles and functions of the lncRNA‒miRNA-mRNA network in CKD are still unclear.

Methods: In this study, we performed differential expression analysis of lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs in CKD using the datasets GSE66494 and GSE80247 from the Gene Expression Omnibus. A total of 33 lncRNAs, 20 miRNAs, and 240 mRNAs were differentially expressed between CKD patients and healthy controls. Two ceRNA interaction modules composed of 11 hub nodes, namely, 2 lncRNAs (LINC01086, LINC01094), 2 miRNAs (hsa-miR-197-3p, hsamiR- 513b-5p) and 7 mRNAs (CENPF, TOP2A, ARHGAP11A, CEP55, MELK, DTL, and ANLN) were constructed. In vitro knockdown of LINC01094 expression in renal tubular epithelial HK2 cells significantly attenuated the phenotype of TGFβ1-induced cell fibrosis.

Results: The results of RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) experiments and dual-luciferase reporter experiments based on constructed mutants confirmed that LINC01094 could mediate MELK expression by sponging miR-513b-5p.

Conclusion: Our observations indicated that lowering the expression of LINC01094 can significantly attenuate the TGFβ1-induced fibrosis phenotype in HK2 cells and renal inflammation through the miR-513b-5p/MELK/Smad3 signalling axis.