Christopher Halford

Nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) is a long non-coding RNA with two isoforms. Both are expressed constitutively and have been shown to play a crucial structural role in the formation of paraspeckles. Paraspeckles are subnuclear bodies which retain certain mRNAs, preventing their translation in the cytoplasm, thereby silencing the corresponding genes. This study aimed to assess the effects of knocking down NEAT1 by RNA interference on the Burkitt's lymphoma cell line, BJAB. The results have shown that a targeted siRNA depletion of NEAT1 resulted in an increased number of cells displaying aberrant morphology, including the appearance of ‘giant cells’, multinucleated cells and cells with cytoplasmic vacuoles. Furthermore, NEAT1 down-regulation was accompanied with an increased level of apoptosis and decreased cell viability, assessed by acridine orange morphology staining, vital dye exclusion and (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium) assay. Taken together, the study strongly suggests that modulation of NEAT1 expression has a significant effect on the BJAB cell line. Such remarkable effects of changes of NEAT1 expression on the control of cell morphology reported here indicate the potential significance of this gene in the development and progression of cancer and highlight the importance of further investigation into the role of NEAT1 dysregulation in autoimmune disease and oncogenesis.