LncRNA NEAT1 affects inflammatory response by targeting miR-129-5p and regulating Notch signaling pathway in epilepsy

It is crucial to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in epileptogenesis. This study aims to investigate the role of lncRNA NEAT1, miR-129-5p and Notch signaling pathway in epilepsy. In this research, temporal lobe tissues were collected from patients with epilepsy and healthy controls. The CTX-TNA cells were treated with IL-1 beta to establish as epilepsy cell model, which were then manipulated the expression level of NEAT1, miR-129-5p and Notch1 to investigate their roles in the epilepsy progression. The expression levels of RNA and protein in temporal lobe tissues and epilepsy cell model were determined by RT-qPCR, western blotting or ELISA, respectively. MTT assay was utilized to analyze the cell viability. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to explore the interaction relationship between lncRNA NEAT1, miR-129-5p and Notch1. Silencing NEAT1 significantly reduced the expression levels of IL-6, COX-2 and TNF-alpha in epilepsy cell model. The overexpression of NEAT1 suppressed the expression level of miR-129-5p. Inhibiting miR-129-5p significantly increased the expression of IL-6, COX-2, TNF-alpha and Notch1. Furthermore, the expression levels of IL-6, COX-2 and TNF-alpha were increased after overexpressing Notch1 in miR-129-5p mimics-treated cells. The expression levels of Notch1, JAG1, and HES1 were decreased after transfecting with sh-NEAT1. However, compared with sh-NEAT1 group, the expression levels of Notch1, JAG1, HES1, IL-6 and TNF-alpha were reversed by miR-129-5p inhibition or Notch1 overexpression. The present study verified that lncRNA NEAT1 affected inflammatory response of epilepsy by suppressing miR-129-5p and further regulating Notch signaling pathway in IL-1 beta-induced epilepsy cell model.