Genes involved in leukotriene synthesis pathway are dynamically regulated during lung development in Rhesus monkeys

Background: Leukotrienes play critical roles in many inflammatory lung diseases and several antagonists of their receptors have been used in the clinical settings. However, the physiological functions of leukotrienes in lung development are still unclear. Method: The expression levels of 34 genes involved in leukotriene synthesis and function pathway in the lungs of Rhesus monkey during different developmental time points were determined on a MiSeq platform and analyzed by the reads per kilobase of transcript per million mapped reads (RPKM) method. Results: The results showed that the expression levels of PLA2G1B, PLA2G10, PLA2G2D, ALOX5, and ALOX5AP increased dramatically in the lung of Rhesus monkey, reflecting the changes in the pulmonary environment after delivery. Additionally, the different expression patterns between molecules related to LTB4 and LTC4 synthesis suggested distinct roles of LTB4 and LTC4 in lung development. Finally, the constant expression of CysLT1 during the development process provided new information to the pharmaceutical basis of the use of leukotriene receptor antagonists in the clinical setting. Conclusion The expression levels of several key genes involved in leukotriene synthesis changed dramatically during lung development in Rhesus monkeys, suggesting the potential roles of leukotrienes in lung development in this animal model.