Not only cancer: the long non-coding RNA MALAT1 affects the repertoire of alternatively spliced transcripts and circular RNAs in multiple sclerosis

Abstract Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are post-transcriptional and epigenetic regulators, whose implication in neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases remains poorly understood. We analyzed publicly available microarray data sets to identify dysregulated lncRNAs in multiple sclerosis (MS), a neuroinflammatory autoimmune disease. We found a consistent upregulation in MS of the lncRNA MALAT1 (2.7-fold increase; meta-analysis, P = 1.3 × 10−8; 190 cases, 182 controls), known to regulate alternative splicing (AS). We confirmed MALAT1 upregulation in two independent MS cohorts (1.5-fold increase; P