Identification and characteristics of postnatal development-related long non-coding RNAs under microbiota dependent condition

Background: The interplay of long-non coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and the intestinal microbiota may serve as an essential role in intestinal development and homeostasis. Microbiota could regulate a large numbers of lncRNAs expression in intestinal epithelial cells. However, the associations between lncRNAs and microbiota during early postnatal development stages are still need to understand. Methods: In present study, the microbial effects on lncRNA of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) during postnatal development stage were investigated. Results: We identified gut microbiota-specific lncRNAs in diverse postnatal development stages including week 1, week 4 and week 12/16 of mice. A large proportion of gut microbiota-specific lncRNAs only were differential expressed in a single postnatal development stage. Up- and down-regulated gut microbiota-specific lncRNAs both showed consistent expression pattern. We also constructed gut microbiota-specific lncRNAs and coding genes interacted co-expressed networks. Functional analysis indicated that gut microbiota-specific lncRNAs were associated with ABC transporters. Conclusions: In summary, the present study characterizes the landscape of lncRNAs associated with gut microbiota in different postnatal development stages. It provide assistance for exploring the relationships among lncRNAs, gut microbiota and postnatal development stages.