The role of ncRNAs in pulmonary immune responses

Recent development of novel techniques for functional genomics allowed the identification of the genome sequencing and the first insights into the discovery of RNA molecules that are not translated into proteins. The ongoing characterisation of these non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) indicate that they actually have several roles in the regulation of biological processes. The most characterised class of ncRNAs is microRNAs (miRs), represented by small RNA molecules that emerged with a main role in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. The other class of ncRNAs that has gained increased interest is the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a less conserved class of RNA molecules that have important roles in the transcriptional and post-transcription regulation of gene expression. Notably, both miRs and lncRNAs are found to be dysregulated in lung diseases, such as asthma and pulmonary infections. The first chapter of the thesis comprise a literature review on the background of pulmonary immunity, asthma, Influenza A virus (IAV) infection and ncRNAs (including miRs and lncRNAs), introduce their main mechanisms and describe well characterised examples of how ncRNAs are linked to the initiation and progression of the pulmonary diseases. In chapter 2, we will cover the materials and methods utilized in our experiments. In chapter 3, we will provide new insights into the functions of miR-328 that have not been characterised and its involvement with immune responses in a mouse model of asthma. In chapter 4, we will address the functions of the lncRNA Tug1 and its involvement with antiviral responses and IAV viral replication. Lastly, in chapter 5, we will summarise and discuss the work that is embodied in this thesis and future experiments required for the continued research in the field of microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs and pulmonary immune responses.