Site-Specific Expression Pattern of PIWI-Interacting RNA in Skin and Oral Mucosal Wound Healing

Author(s)

Chen, Lin ^{[1, 2]} ; Chen, Zujian ^[2] ; Simoes, Alyne ^{[1, 3]} ; Wu, Xinming ^[2] ; Dai, Yang ^{[4, 5]} ; DiPietro, Luisa A. ^{[4, 1, 2]} ; Zhou, Xiaofeng ^{[4, 1, 2, 6]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Illinois, Coll Dent, Ctr Wound Healing & Tissue Regenerat, Chicago, IL 60612 - USA

^[2] Univ Illinois, Coll Dent, Dept Periodont, Chicago, IL 60612 - USA

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Dent, Dept Biomat & Oral Biol, Oral Biol Lab, BR-05508000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Illinois, Grad Coll, Chicago, IL 60607 - USA

^[5] Univ Illinois, Coll Engn, Dept Bioengn, Chicago, IL 60607 - USA

^[6] Univ Illinois, UIC Canc Ctr, Chicago, IL 60612 - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES; v. 21, n. 2 JAN 2 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The oral mucosa exhibits exceptional healing capability when compared to skin. Recent studies suggest that intrinsic differences in coding genes and regulatory small non-coding RNA (sncRNA) genes (e.g., microRNAs) may underlie the exceptional healing that occurs in the oral mucosa. Here, we investigate the role of a novel class of sncRNA-Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA)-in the tissue-specific differential response to injury. An abundance of piRNAs was detected in both skin and oral mucosal epithelium during wound healing. The expression of PIWI genes (the obligate binding partners of piRNAs) was also detected in skin and oral wound healing. This data suggested that PIWI-piRNA machinery may serve an unknown function in the highly orchestrated wound healing process. Furthermore, unique tissue-specific piRNA profiles were obtained in the skin and oral mucosal epithelium, and substantially more changes in piRNA expression were observed during skin wound healing than oral mucosal wound healing. Thus, we present the first clue suggesting a role of piRNA in wound healing, and provide the first site-specific piRNA profile of skin and oral mucosal wound healing. These results serve as a foundation for the future investigation of the functional contribution(s) of piRNA in wound repair and tissue regeneration. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/16332-0 - Role of microRNA in skin wound healing: effects of low level laser therapy and comparative study with oral mucosa healing
• Grantee: Alyne Simões Gonçalves
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research