Long non-coding RNA Rpph1 promotes inflammation in diabetic nephropathy

DOI: 10.14800/rd.450

Abstract

As the main complication of diabetes-related kidney damage, diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a complex clinical problem worldwide. As long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play vital roles in DN, we would like to investigate the effect of lncRNA Rpph1 on glomerular mesangial inflammatory cytokines in diabetic nephropathy (DN). Compared with normal mice, Rpph1 was significantly up-regulated in kidney tissues of DN mice. Meanwhile, high-glucose cultured mesangial cells showed significantly up-regulation of Rpph1 expression in cultured mesangial cells. In addition, bioinformatics confirmed that Rpph1 does not have the ability to encode proteins. Moreover, the levels of TNF-? and MCP-1 were significantly up-regulated after overexpression of Rpph1 while down-regulation of Rpph1 results in the decreased expression of TNF-? and MCP-1. In conclusion, the lncRNA Rpph1 is highly expressed in mesangial cells of DN mice and the expression of inflammation-related factors is enhanced in high glucose environment which suggest that Rpph1 may be associated with the development of diabetic nephropathy.