Inhibition by rno-circRNA-013017 of the apoptosis of motor neurons in anterior horn and descending axonal degeneration in rats after traumatic spinal cord injury

Chuan Qin; Yi Liu; Pei-Pei Xu; Xin Zhang; Zuliyaer Talifu; Jia-Yi Liu; Ying-Li Jing; Fan Bai; Li-Xi Zhao; Yan Yu; Feng Gao; Jian-Jun Li

doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.1065897

Inhibition by rno-circRNA-013017 of the apoptosis of motor neurons in anterior horn and descending axonal degeneration in rats after traumatic spinal cord injury

Front Neurosci. 2022 Dec 15:16:1065897. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1065897. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Chuan Qin^{1

2

3

4

5

6}, Yi Liu^{2

4

5

6

7}, Pei-Pei Xu^{2

3

4

5

6}, Xin Zhang^{2

3

4

5

6}, Zuliyaer Talifu^{2

3

4

5

6}, Jia-Yi Liu^{2

3

4

5

6}, Ying-Li Jing^{3

4

6}, Fan Bai^{3

4

6}, Li-Xi Zhao^{3

4

6}, Yan Yu^{3

4

6}, Feng Gao^{2

3

4

5

6}, Jian-Jun Li^{2

3

4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.
² School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
³ China Rehabilitation Science Institute, Beijing, China.
⁴ Center of Neural Injury and Repair, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China.
⁵ Department of Spinal and Neural Functional Reconstruction, China Rehabilitation Research Center, Beijing, China.
⁶ Beijing Key Laboratory of Neural Injury and Rehabilitation, Beijing, China.
⁷ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) often causes continuous neurological damage to clinical patients. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are related to a lot of diseases, including SCI. We previously found five candidate circRNAs which were likely to regulate the secondary pathophysiological changes in rat model after traumatic SCI.

Methods: In this study, we first selected and overexpressed target circRNA in rats. We then explored its functional roles using various functional assays in a rat model after SCI.

Results: We found that rno-circRNA-013017-the selected target circRNA-reduced neuron apoptosis, preserved the survival and activity of motor neurons, and regulated apoptosis-related proteins at 3 days post-SCI using western blot, immunofluorescence and polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, we found that rno-circRNA-013017 inhibited descending axonal degeneration and preserved motor neurons and descending axons at 6 weeks post-SCI using immunofluorescence, biotin dextran amine diffusion tensor imaging. Finally, the overexpression of rno-circRNA-013017 promoted the locomotor function of rats after SCI using open-field test and gait analysis.

Conclusion: Focusing on the functions of rno-circRNA-013017, this study provides new options for future studies exploring therapeutic targets and molecular mechanisms for SCI.

Keywords: apoptosis; axonal degeneration; circRNAs; rats; spinal cord injury.