Expression Analysis of GAS8 and its Naturally Occurring Antisense RNA in MS Patients Versus Healthy Subjects

Expressions of the Growth arrest specific 8 (GAS8) and its naturally occurring antisense RNA (GAS8-AS1) have been assessed in tumoraltissues of different origins. However, their association with immune-related disorders has been poorly understood. Materials and Methods: In the current study, we evaluated expression levels of these genes in 50 relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients compared with age- and sexmatched controls. Expression assays were performed on peripheral blood samples of study participants following extraction oftotal RNA and cDNA synthesis using blood, RNA extraction, and cDNA Reverse Transcription. TaqMan (Real Time PCR), The primers and probes sequences. Results: Expression of both genes were significantly higher in total MS patients compared with controls (P=0.001 and P<0.0001 respectively). The difference in GAS8 expression was also significant in total female patients and females aged less than 50 when comparedwith the corresponding control subjects (P=0.002 and 0.006 respectively). GAS8-AS1 was higher in male patients in both age-based subgroups compared with the corresponding healthy subjects (P<0.0001). Expressions of both genes were inversely correlated with age of malestudy participants but no other subgroups. GAS8-AS1 transcript levels had 99.6% accuracy in diagnosis of disease status in male subjects. Conclusion: The current study shows significance of GAS8 and GAS8-AS1 in the pathogenesis of MS and the putative role of GAS8- AS1 as a diagnostic biomarker in a subset of patients