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Tieli Dong,1,* Haichao Si,1,2,* Zhisong Li,1 Qian Bai,1 Feng Tao3 1Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Anesthesiology, Nanyang Central Hospital, Nanyang, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, Dallas, TX, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Qian Bai; Feng Tao, Email baiqian@zzu.edu.cn; ftao81@tamu.eduBackground: Persistent facial pain heavily impacts the quality of life in patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders. Previous studies have demonstrated that long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) is an important regulator of pain. In this study, we aimed to analyze lncRNA expression in the whole transcriptome of trigeminal ganglia (TG) and spinal trigeminal nucleus caudalis (Sp5C) in a chronic inflammatory TMJ pain mouse model.Methods: Chronic inflammatory TMJ pain was induced by intra-TMJ injection of complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA). Mouse TG and Sp5C tissues were harvested on day 4 after CFA injection. The lncRNA expression patterns in the whole transcriptome of TG and Sp5C were profiled with RNA sequencing.Results: We observed that 38 lncRNAs and 849 mRNAs were differentially expressed after CFA treatment. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis further revealed relationships among those differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs and their potential functions. Specific categories of biological process, cellular processes, and molecular function of the differentially expressed transcripts were ascertained.Conclusion: Our results suggest that lncRNA expression in the whole transcriptome of trigeminal nociceptive system could contribute to the molecular mechanisms that underlie chronic inflammatory TMJ pain.Keywords: temporomandibular joint pain, lncRNAs, RNA sequencing, trigeminal ganglia, spina

Qian Bai,1 Jing Cao,2 Tieli Dong,1 Feng Tao3 1Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Henan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, Dallas, Texas, USACorrespondence: Tieli DongThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail tlddtl@126.comFeng TaoTexas A&M University College of Dentistry, Dallas, Texas, USAEmail ftao81@tamu.eduBackground: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) leads to pain through alteration of gene expression. Although gene expression alteration in knee cartilage or peripheral blood from RA patients has been identified using microarray, it remains unclear whether long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-mediated gene regulation occurs in primary sensory neurons of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) during RA-like joint inflammation. In the present study, we aimed to analyze lncRNA and related mRNA profiles in the DRG in a knee joint inflammation rat model.Methods: Complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) was injected in the rat knee joint for preparing the joint inflammation model. A lncRNA-mRNA microarray of rat DRG was employed for transcriptome analysis. Functional roles of differentially expressed lncRNAs and their related mRNAs in the injured DRG were delineated by bioinformatic analysis.Results: We observed that expression levels of 9000 lncRNAs were altered on day 7 post-CFA, of which 45.17% were up-regulated and 54.83% were down-regulated. Specifically, 69 lncRNAs (42 up and 27 down) were significantly regulated. We also observed that expression levels of 13,744 mRNAs were altered on day 7 post-CFA, of which 49.67% were up-regulated and 50.33% were down-regulated. Specifically, 102 mRNAs (51 up and 51 down) were significantly regulated. Using quantitative