Changes in the coding/non-coding transcriptome and DNA methylome that define the Schwann cell repair phenotype after nerve injury

Schwann cell (Büngner) repair cells play a critical role in orchestrating nerve repair after injury, but the reprogramming process that generates them is poorly understood. We present the first combined whole genome coding and non-coding RNA and CpG methylation study after nerve injury. We show that genes involved in epithelial to mesenchymal transition are enriched in repair cells and we identify long non-coding RNAs in Schwann cells. We demonstrate that the AP-1 transcription factor c-Jun regulates the expression of certain micro RNAs in repair cells, in particular miR-21 and miR-34. Surprisingly, changes in CpG methylation are limited in injury, unlike development, and restricted to specific locations, such as enhancer regions of novel Schwann cell specific genes, such as Nedd4l, and near to local enrichment of AP-1 motifs. These epigenetic changes significantly broaden our understanding of Schwann cell reprogramming in peripheral nervous system tissue repair. To identify epigenetic regulators underlying successful nerve regeneration we generated RNA-Seq, small-RNA-Seq and whole genome bisulfite sequencing libraries for uninjured nerve versus three and/or seven day post nerve transection sciatic nerves of adult C57BL/6J mice crush.