Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2018, Vol. 13 ›› Issue (9): 1622-1627.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.237183

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Transcription factor networks involved in cell death in the dorsal root ganglia following peripheral nerve injury

Jing Qin1, 2, Jian-Cheng Wu1, Qi-Hui Wang1, Song-Lin Zhou1, Su-Su Mao1, Chun Yao1   

  1. 1 Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China
    2 Department of Pathological Anatomy, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Received:2018-06-09 Online:2018-09-15 Published:2018-09-15
  • Contact: Chun Yao, Ph.D.,yaochun@ntu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:

    This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 31500823; the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China, No. BK20150403; the Natural Science Fund for Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province of China, No.16KJB180024.

Abstract:

The peripheral nervous system has the potential to regenerate after nerve injury owing to the intrinsic regrowth ability of neurons and the permissive microenvironment. The regenerative process involves numerous gene expression changes, in which transcription factors play a critical role. Previously, we profiled dysregulated genes in dorsal root ganglion neurons at different time points (0, 3 and 9 hours, and 1, 4 and 7 days) after sciatic nerve injury in rats by RNA sequencing. In the present study, we investigated differentially expressed transcription factors following nerve injury, and we identified enriched molecular and cellular functions of these transcription factors by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. This analysis revealed the dynamic changes in the expression of transcription factors involved in cell death at different time points following sciatic nerve injury. In addition, we constructed regulatory networks of the differentially expressed transcription factors in cell death and identified some key transcription factors (such as STAT1, JUN, MYC and IRF7). We confirmed the changes in expression of some key transcription factors (STAT1 and IRF7) by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Collectively, our analyses provide a global overview of transcription factor changes in dorsal root ganglia after sciatic nerve injury and offer insight into the regulatory transcription factor networks involved in cell death.

Key words: nerve regeneration, cell death, transcription factors, dorsal root ganglia neurons, peripheral nerve injury, sciatic nerve, ingenuity pathway analysis, Cytoscape, bioinformatics analysis, STAT1, IRF7, neural regeneration