Bmp2 is essential for dentin development and formation. Bmp2 conditional knock-out (KO) mice display a similar tooth phenotype of dentinogenesis imperfecta (DGI). To elucidate a foundation for subsequent functional studies of cross talk between mRNAs and lncRNAs in Bmp2-mediated dentinogenesis, we investigated the profiling of lncRNAs and mRNAs using immortalized mouse dental Bmp2 flox/flox (iBmp2fx/fx) and Bmp2 knock-out (iBmp2ko/ko) papilla cells. RNA sequencing was implemented to study the expression of the lncRNAs and mRNAs. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to validate expressions of lncRNAs and mRNAs. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases were used to predict functions of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Protein–protein interaction (PPI) and lncRNA–mRNA co-expression network were analyzed by using bioinformatics methods. As a result, a total of 22 differentially expressed lncRNAs (16 downregulated vs 6 upregulated) and 227 differentially expressed mRNAs (133 downregulated vs. 94 upregulated) were identified in the iBmp2ko/ko cells compared with those of the iBmp2fx/fx cells. RT-qPCR results showed significantly differential expressions of several lncRNAs and mRNAs which were consistent with the RNA-seq data. GO and KEGG analyses showed differentially expressed genes were closely related to cell differentiation, transcriptional regulation, and developmentally relevant signaling pathways. Moreover, network-based bioinformatics analysis depicted the co-expression network between lncRNAs and mRNAs regulated by Bmp2 in mouse dental papilla cells and symmetrically analyzed the effect of Bmp2 during dentinogenesis via coding and non-coding RNA signaling.

Hypoxic-ischemic white matter injury (WMI) pathogenesis in preterm infants is not well established, and iron-related proteins in the brain may play an important role in imbalanced iron metabolism. We aimed to investigate the iron-related protein changes in neonatal rats after hypoxia-ischemia (HI), clarify the role of iron-related proteins in hypoxic-ischemic WMI, and potentially provide a new target for the clinical treatment of hypoxic-ischemic WMI in preterm infants. We adopted a WMI animal model of bilateral common carotid artery electrocoagulation combined with hypoxia in neonatal 3-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats. We observed basic myelin protein (MBP) and iron-related protein expression in the brain (ferritin, transferrin receptor [TfR], and membrane iron transporter 1 [FPN1]) via Western blot and double immunofluorescence staining. The expression of MBP in the WMI group was significantly downregulated on postoperative days (PODs) 14, 28, and 56. Ferritin levels were significantly increased on PODs 3, 7, 14, and 28 and were most significant on POD 28, returning to the sham group level on POD 56. FPN1 levels were significantly increased on PODs 7, 28, and 56 and were still higher than those in the sham group on POD 56. TfR expression was significantly upregulated on PODs 1, 7, and 28 and returned to the sham group level on POD 56. Immunofluorescence staining showed that ferritin, TfR, and FPN1 were expressed in neurons, blood vessels, and oligodendrocytes in the cortex and corpus callosum on POD 28. Compared with the sham group, the immune-positive markers of three proteins in the WMI group were significantly increased. The expression of iron-related proteins in the brain (ferritin, FPN1, and TfR) showed spatiotemporal dynamic changes and may play an important role in hypoxic-ischemic WMI.