Microarray analysis of long non-coding RNAs in COPD lung tissue

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of many human diseases. In this study, we provide the description of genome-wide lncRNA expression in the lung tissue of non-smokers without Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), of smokers without COPD and of smokers with COPD. RNA was extracted from human lung tissue and analysed using an Agilent Human lncRNA + mRNA Array v2.0 system. 39,253 distinct lncRNA transcripts were detected in the lung tissues of all subjects. In smokers without COPD 87 lncRNAs were significantly up-regulated and 244 down-regulated compared to non-smokers without COPD with RNA50010|UCSC-9199-1005 and RNA58351| CombinedLit_316_550, the most over- and under-regulated, respectively. In contrast, in COPD patients 120 lncRNAs were over-expressed and 43 under-expressed compared with smokers without COPD with RNA44121|UCSC-2000-3182 and RNA43510|UCSC-1260-3754 being the most over- and under-regulated, respectively. Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway analysis indicated that cigarette smoking was associated with activation of metabolic pathways, whereas COPD transcripts were associated with 'hematopoietic cell lineage', intermediary metabolism and immune system processes. We conclude that the altered expression of lncRNAs might play partial role in pathways implicated in COPD onset and progression such as intermediary metabolism and the immune response.