Dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons spontaneously undergo robust neurite growth 
after axotomy. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are an important class of pervasive 
genes involved in a variety of biological functions. However, the functions of 
lncRNAs in the regulation of responses of DRG neurons to injury stimuli remain 
untested. Here, lncRNA microarray analysis was performed to profile the lncRNAs 
in L4-L6 DRGs following rat sciatic nerve resection. The 105 lncRNAs were 
identified to be differentially expressed at 0, 1, 4, 7 d post injury. A 
coexpression network of 24 down-regulated lncRNAs and coding genes was 
constructed, and 115 targets of these 24 lncRNAs were found to be mainly 
involved in cell phenotype modulation, including glial cell migration, 
purinergic nucleotide receptor signaling pathway, vasodilation, regulation of 
multi-organism process, and neuropeptide signaling pathway, and also to be 
potentially associated with several key regeneration signaling pathways, 
including MAPK signaling pathway, and neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction. 
LncRNA BC089918 was selected from 24 down-regulated lncRNAs for validation by 
quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization. And 
silencing of BC089918 with small interfering RNAs indicted that the lncRNA had a 
particular promoting effect on neurite outgrowth. Our data demonstrated a 
distinct involvement of lncRNAs in DRGs after nerve injury, thus contributing to 
illustration of molecular mechanisms responsible for nerve regeneration.