Expression of the long noncoding RNA Neat1 in saliva, blood, and ventromedial hypothalamus of pigs exposed to psychosocial stressors.

The long noncoding RNA Nuclear Paraspeckle Assembly Transcript 1 (NEAT1) is a master regulator of transcriptional and posttranscriptional changes in stress responses. Here we assessed Neat1 lncRNA expression using quantitative PCR in peripheral biological fluids (saliva and blood) and a brain region that regulates stress and emotion (ventromedial hypothalamus) of 12-week-old pigs exposed to chronic (social mixing causing conflict) and acute (restraint) psychosocial challenges. We demonstrated that Neat1 is measurable in pig saliva, blood, and brain samples. Successful Neat1 lncRNA measurements in all three tissue types further established both broad tissue expression as well as the cross-species conserved sequence of the NEAT1 gene. We found that Neat1_2 and Neat1 total expression did not correlate between tissues, suggesting variable expression throughout the body, and no significant differences in Neat1 lncRNA levels with either stressor. We also observed across all treatment groups changes in Neat1_2 and cortisol levels comparing samples taken before the intervention, compared to after, indicating confounding factors may have impacted the model. Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility of measuring Neat1 in biological fluids obtained from farm mammals, with further work required to assess Neat1 lncRNA as a molecule involved in the physiological response to psychosocial stress.