Abstract
We intended to explore the potential molecular mechanisms underlying the cardiac conduction block inducted by urea transporter (UT)-B deletion at the transcriptome level. The heart tissues were harvested from UT-B null mice and age-matched wild-type mice for lncRNA sequencing analysis. Based on the sequencing data, the differentially expressed mRNAs (DEMs) and lncRNAs (DELs) between UT-B knockout and control groups were identified, followed by function analysis and mRNA-lncRNA co-expression analysis. The miRNAs were predicted, and then the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was constructed. UT-B deletion results in the aberrant expression of 588 lncRNAs and 194 mRNAs. These DEMs were significantly enriched in the inflammation-related pathway. A lncRNA-mRNA co-expression network and a ceRNA network were constructed on the basis of the DEMs and DELs. The complement 7 (C7)-NONMMUT137216.1 co-expression pair had the highest correlation coefficient in the co-expression network. NONMMUT140591.1 had the highest degree in the ceRNA network and was involved in the ceRNA of NONMMUT140591.1-mmu-miR-298-5p-Gata5 (GATA binding protein 5). UT-B deletion may promote cardiac conduction block via inflammatory process. The ceRNA NONMMUT140591.1-mmu-miR-298-5p-Gata5 may be a potential molecular mechanism of UT-B knockout-induced cardiac conduction block.