Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common neurosurgical diseases which refers to brain function impairment or brain pathological changes induced by external causes. A traditional Chinese medicine, Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction (XFZYD), has been indicated to harbor therapeutic property against TBI. Transfer RNA (tRNA)-derived small RNAs i.e., tsRNAs (a group of small RNAs derived from tRNAs) are multifunctional regulatory non-coding RNAs generated under pressure and implicated in the progression of TBI.
Methods: TBI model was successfully constructed by using of rats. Further using sequencing and omics to identify novel tsRNAs as drug targets for XFZYD therapy against TBI in rat hippocampus. qPCR assay was used to further verify the experimental results. GO analyzed the signaling pathways of downstream target genes of tsRNA in XFZYD regulated TBI model. qPCR was used to detect the influence of over-expressed tsRNA mimic/inhibitor on their target genes in PC12 cell.
Results: Our RNA-Seq data illustrates that 11 tsRNAs were mediated by the XFZYD. The experimental data revealed AS-tDR-002004 and AS-tDR-002583 as potential targets for XFZYD therapy and influenced TBI via the cadherin signaling pathway, cocaine addiction, circadian entrainment and nicotine pharmacodynamics pathway. We also confirm that Pi4kb, Mlh3, Pcdh9, and Ppp1cb were targets genes of 2 XFZYD regulated tsRNAs in hippocampus of rat model and PC12 cells. Furthermore, biological function analysis revealing potential therapeutic effects of tsRNAs, and results found Mapk1, Gnai1 was the related genes of for XFZYD therapy against TBI.
Conclusion: Our work successfully illuminates the efficiency of XFZYD for the treatment of TBI. The experimental data revealed AS-tDR-002004 and AS-tDR-002583 as potential targets for XFZYD therapy and influenced TBI via the cadherin signaling pathway, cocaine addiction, circadian entrainment and nicotine pharmacodynamics pathway in TBI rat model.