Expression Profiles of Long Non-Coding RNAs in the Articular Cartilage of Rats Exposed to T-2 Toxin

T-2 toxin could induce bone damage. But there is no specific mechanism about the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) involved in T-2 toxin-induced articular cartilage injury. In this study, 24 SD rats were randomly divided into a control group and a T-2 group, which were administered 4% absolute ethanol and 100 ng/g · bw/day of T-2 toxin, respectively. After treatment for 4 weeks, safranin O/fast green staining identified the pathological changes in the articular cartilage of rats, and immunofluorescence verified the autophagy level increase in the T-2 group. Total RNA was isolated, and high-throughput sequencing was performed. A total of 620 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DE-lncRNAs) were identified, and 326 target genes were predicted. Enrichment analyses showed that the target genes of DE-lncRNAs were enriched in the autophagy-related biological processes and pathways. According to the autophagy database, a total of 23 autophagy-related genes were identified, and five hub genes (Foxo3, Foxo1, Stk11, Hdac4, and Rela) were screened using the Maximal Clique Centrality algorithm. The Human Protein Atlas database indicated that Rela and Hdac4 proteins were highly expressed in the bone marrow tissue, while Foxo3, Foxo1, and Stk11 proteins were reduced. According to Enrichr, etoposide and diatrizoic acid were identified as the key drugs. The real-time quantitative PCR results were consistent with the RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) results. These results suggested that autophagy was involved in the rat articular cartilage lesions induced by T-2 toxin. The lncRNAs of NONRATG014223.2, NONRATG012484.2, NONRATG021591.2, NONRATG024691.2, and NONRATG002808.2, and their target genes of Foxo3, Foxo1, Stk11, Hdac4, and Rela, respectively, were the key regulator factors of autophagy.